A New Spectrophotometric Method for the Determination of Arsenic in Environmental and Biological Samples

Abstract

A simple and selective spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of trace amounts of arsenic using azure B as a chromogenic reagent. The proposed method is based on the reaction of arsenic(III) with potassium iodate in acid medium to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine bleaches the violet color of azure B and is measured at 644 nm. This decrease in absorbance is directly proportional to the As(III) concentration, and Beer's law is obeyed in the range 0.2–10 µg ml^?1 of As(III). The molar absorptivity, Sandell's sensitivity, detection limit, and quantitation limit of the method were found to be 1.12×10⁴ l mol^?1cm^?1, 6.71×10^?3 µg cm^?2, 0.02 µg ml^?1 and 0.08 µg ml^?1, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical parameters were evaluated. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the determination of arsenic in various environmental and biological samples.     

Spectrophotometric Determination of Some Fluoroquinolone Derivatives in Dosage Forms and Biological Fluids Using Ion‐Pair Complex Formation

Abstract

A simple, rapid, sensitive, and reproducible procedure for assaying norfloxacin (NOR), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and ofloxacin (OFL) was investigated. The procedure is based on the reaction of selected drugs with Sudan II (I), Congo red (II), and Gentian violet (III) in universal buffer to give soluble ion‐pair complexes. The effects of various parameters have been studied. Beer's law plots were obeyed in the concentration ranges 0.5–11 µg ml^?1, whereas Ringbom optimum ranges were 0.7–9.5 µg ml^?1. The apparent molar absorptivity (6.4×10⁴ L mol^?1 cm^?1), Sandell sensitivity (4.99 ng cm^?2), detection (0.13 µg ml^?1), and quantification (0.44 µg ml^?1) limits were calculated. The relative standard deviation for ten determinations, for samples containing 4.0 µg ml^?1, was found to be 1.40%. The influence of commonly employed excipients in the determination of the studied drugs was examined. There was no interference from degradate product results from thermal and hydrolytic treatments. The results obtained by the proposed procedure were statistically validated. The developed procedure was successfully applied to the determination of the studied drugs in dosage forms and biological fluids.     

Rapid and selective determination of osmium(IV) by UV-visible spectrophotometry using o-methylphenyl thiourea as a chromogenic chelating ligand: sequential separation of osmium(IV), rhodium(III) and platinum(IV)

The objective of this research work was to develop a simple, highly sensitive and precise method for spectrophotometric determination of osmium(IV). O-Methylphenyl thiourea (OMPT) coordinates with osmium(IV) as a 1:1 (osmium(IV)–OMPT) complex in hydrochloric acid media (0.8 mol l^?1). The novelty of the investigated method is instant complex formation at room temperature with no need of heating or standing. The complex is stable for more than 8 days. The method is applicable over a wide linearity range (up to 110 µg ml^?1). A low reagent concentration is required (2 ml, 0.009 mol l^?1 in ethanol). The complex exhibits maximum absorption in the range of wavelength 510–522 nm and 514 nm was selected for further study. The molar absorptivity was 1.864 × 10³ l mol^?1 cm^?1, Sandell’s sensitivity was 0.102 µg of osmium(IV) cm^?2. Proposed method was successfully applied for separation and determination of osmium(IV) from binary and ternary synthetic mixtures containing associated metal ions. A scheme for mutual separation of osmium(IV), rhodium(III) and platinum(IV) is developed.     

Selective determination of selenium(IV) from environmental samples by UV-visible spectrophotometry using O-methoxyphenyl thiourea as a chelating ligand

A selective extraction–spectrophotometric method has been developed for determination of selenium(IV) using O-methoxyphenyl thiourea (OMePT) as a chelating agent. The basis of the proposed method is the spectrophotometric determination of selenium(IV)–OMePT complex obtained after extraction of selenium(IV) from 3.5 M hydrochloric acid media using OMePT in chloroform solvent. The complex shows maximum absorbance at 350 nm against the reagent blank. The Beer’s law was obeyed over the concentration range 5–60 µg mL^?1 of selenium(IV). The optimum concentration range was 20–50 µg mL^?1 as evaluated from Ringbom’s plot. The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity of the selenium(IV)–OMePT complex in chloroform were 3.312 × 10² L mol^?1cm^?1 and 0.2384 µg cm^?2, respectively. The composition of selenium(IV)–OMePT complex was 1:2 established from slope ratio method, mole ratio method and Job’s continuous variation method. The complex was stable for more than 72 h. The interfering effect of various foreign ions was studied and suitable masking agents were used wherever necessary to enhance the selectivity of the developed method. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of selenium(IV) from real samples, viz. pharmaceutical formulations, shampoo, vegetable sample, synthetic mixtures and environmental samples. Repetition of the method was checked by finding the relative standard deviation (RSD) for 10 determinations which was 0.35%.     

Comparison of Ion-Pairing and Reversed Phase Liquid Chromatography in Determination of Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim

Abstract

Two simple, rapid, and sensitive HPLC methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in their pure and dosage forms, one utilizing reversed phase HPLC and the other ion-pair HPLC. In the reversed phase HPLC method (A) the mobile phase consists of 0.05% aqueous solution of formic acid with pH adjusted to 4.5±0.2 with triethylamine : acetonitrile:tetrahydrofuran 50 : 49 : 1 (v/v), and the mobile phase pumped at flow rate of 1.0 ml min^?1. An Appolo LC18 column (5.0 µm), 250 mm length × 4.6 mm diameter, was utilized as the stationary phase. Detection was affected spectrophotometrically at 254 nm. In the ion-pair HPLC method (B) the mobile phase consisted of methanol : buffer 35 : 65 (v/v) with the buffer composed of potassium dihydrogen phosphate 0.3 M and sodium heptan sulfonic acid 5.0 mM. To 500 ml of buffer was added 2.0 ml triethylamine, and then the pH was adjusted to 5.0 with phosphoric acid, and the mobile phase was pumped at a flow rate of 1.2 ml min^?1. A Hypersil C₁₈ column (5.0 µm), 150 mm length × 4.6 mm diameter, was utilized as the stationary phase. Detection was affected spectrophotometrically at 254 nm. Linearity ranges for sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim were 1.0–110 and 1.5–98 µg ml^?1, respectively, with method A and 0.5–100 and 1.0–125 µg ml^?1, respectively, with method (B). Minimum detection limits obtained were 0.1969 and 0.3451 µg ml^?1 for sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, respectively, with method A, and 0.1377 and 0.2454 µg ml^?1 with method (B). The proposed methods were further applied to the analysis of tablets containing the two drugs, and the results were satisfied.     

Catalyzed Determination of Glucose with a Mimic Enzyme Constructed of Bis‐[‐6‐O‐(‐β‐ethyloic‐butanedioic Acid‐1,4‐ester‐4‐)]β‐Cyclodextrin · Fe3+

Abstract

Catalyzed determination of glucose with mimic glucose oxidase is constructed by the reaction of β‐cyclodextrin, maleic anhydride, and chloroacetic acid with iron trichloride in hydrogen peroxide. The method is simple and convenient, and sensitivity and repeatability are ideal. Beer's law is obeyed in a concentration range of 30–197 µg · ml^?1 glucose with an excellent correlation coefficient (r=0.9994), while the detection limit is 4.10 µg · ml^?1, the RSD is 0.98% (n=8). The recovery of sample is 95.8–103.1%.     

Flow-Injection Analysis Based on Extraction and Spectrophotometric Determination of Penicillins with Thiazine Dyes

Abstract

A new method for flow-injection analysis (FIA) for the determination of penicillins based on the extraction and spectrophotometric determination of ion associates with selected thiazine dyes (methylene blue, azure A, and azure B) is proposed. The reaction conditions (c_dye = 2 × 10^?4 mol l^?1, c_KCl = 1 mol l^?1, pH ? 6, λ = 635 nm) were found. The factorial design has been carried out to determine the optimum flow conditions. A wide linear dynamic range of calibration curves (5.1–700 µg ml^?1 for penicillin V with all dyes, R = 0.9985) and good repeatability (e.g., relative standard deviation [RSD] = 4.6–0.6% in this concentration range for the reaction with azure B) were found. The detection limit for penicillin V is 1.5 µg ml^?1, and the determination limit is 5.1 µg ml^?1. The maximum analysis rate is 35 samples per h. The practical samples of pharmaceutics were tested. There are no interferences from the additives in pharmaceutics.     

Abilities of Partial Least‐Squares (PLS‐2) Multivariate Calibration in the Analysis of Quaternary Mixture of Food Colors (E‐110, E‐122, E‐124, E‐131)

Abstract

Sunset Yellow (SY), Carmoisine (C), Ponceau 4R (P), and Patent Blue V (PB) are synthetic organic dyes which are under governmental regulations all over the world because of their toxicity and carcinogenicity.

In this study, a simple and fast analytical procedure was proposed for the simultaneous determination of food dyes (SY, C, P, and PB) in powder drinks by means the partial least‐square treatment of spectrophotometric absorbance between 450 –730 nm, taken at 10 nm intervals. The experimental calibration matrix was constructed with 27 samples. The concentration ranges considered were 2, 3, 4 µg · ml^?1 for SY, 7, 8, 9 µg · ml^?1 for C, 9, 10, 11 µg · ml^?1 for P, and 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 µg · ml^?1 for PB. The method was applied to the determination of dyes in different commercially available powder drinks. The results obtained by the application of the PLS‐2 method were statistically compared with those obtained by an HPLC method using the F and t tests. Very similar values were found by two methods. No time consuming pretreatment was needed and this method also provides rapid, accurate and economical analysis of these colors.     

Multivariate Analysis for the Classification Differentiation of Brazilian Sugarcane Spirits by Analysis of Organic and Inorganic Compounds

Abstract

Brazilian sugarcane spirits were analyzed to elucidate similarities and dissimilarities by principal component analysis. Nine aldehydes, six alcohols, and six metal cations were identified and quantified. Isobutanol (LD 202.9 µg L^?1), butiraldehyde (0.08–0.5 µg L^?1), ethanol (39–47% v/v), and copper (371–6068 µg L^?1) showed marked similarities, but the concentration levels of n-butanol (1.6–7.3 µg L^?1), sec-butanol (LD 89 µg L^?1), formaldehyde (0.1–0.74 µg L^?1), valeraldehyde (0.04–0.31 µg L^?1), iron (8.6–139.1 µg L^?1), and magnesium (LD 1149 µg L^?1) exhibited differences from samples.     

Determination of Titanium in Nano-Titanium(IV) Oxide Composite Food Packaging by Microwave Digestion and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Titanium was determined in nano-titanium(IV) oxide food packaging by microwave digestion with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Microwave digestion was optimized using different acid combinations. Both spectrometry techniques showed good reproducibility, repeatability, and recovery. For ICP-AES, the limit of detection was 5.0 mg kg^?1, the linear dynamic range was 100–5000 µ g L^?1, the average recoveries for blank samples spiked with titanium were between 94.7% and 100.1%, and the relative standard deviations were from 2.1% to 7.1%. By ICP-MS, the limit of detection was 0.3 mg kg^?1, the linear dynamic range was 0.5–200 µ g L^?1, the recoveries were 88.4%–96.3%, and the relative standard deviations were 6.3%–7.4%. These results indicated that methods were effective for the determination of titanium in food packaging.     

Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction of Silver Prior to Determination by Microsample Introduction-Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract

A new simple and sensitive method has been proposed for rapid determination of trace levels of silver in environmental water samples, using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) prior to its microsample introduction-flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range was 0.1–7 µg L^?1 and limit of detection was 0.018 µg L^?1. The relative standard deviation for 0.50 and 5.00 µg L^?1 of silver in water sample was 4.0 and 1.7%, respectively. The relative recoveries of silver from tap, well, river, and seawater samples at spiking levels of 1.00 and 5.00 µg L^?1 were in the range of 86.4–98.6%.     

Selective Determination of Copper in Water Samples by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry after Cloud Point Extraction

A preconcentration methodology utilizing the cloud point phenomenon is described for the determination of copper by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The reagent Sulfathiazolylazo resorsin was used as a complexing agent. The preconcentration factor of 25-fold was obtained. The calibration curve is linear in the range of 4–400 µ g L^?1 with a limit of detection of 0.64 µ g L^?1. The relative standard deviation (n = 5, 12 µ g L^?1) was 3.5%. The cloud point is formed in the presence of phenol at room temperature. The method was successfully applied to the determination of copper in water samples and a standard reference material.     

A Novel Method for the Determination of Streptomycin Using Sodium Nitroprusside as a Chromogenic Reagent by Spectrophotometry

Abstract

A rapid and simple spectrophotometric method for the determination of streptomycin has been developed and validated. The method was based on the reaction of streptomycin with sodium nitroprusside in the alkaline medium forming a red product measured at the maximum absorption of 495 nm. The stoichiometric ratio of the product is 1:1. Beer's law is obeyed in a range of 1.87 µg mL^?1 ～ 279.8 µg mL^?1 of streptomycin and ?₄₉₅ is 6.0 × 10³ L·mol^?1 cm^?1.Under the optimum condition, the equation of linear regression is A = 0.00742 + 0.05683 C (× 10⁵ mol·L^?1), with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9990. The detection limit (3σ/k) is 0.96 µg mL^?1, the relative standard deviation (RSD) is 2.40%, and the average recovery rate is 98.3%–102.7%. Every parameter has been optimized, and the reaction mechanism has been studied. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of streptomycin for injections and tablets of pharmaceutical preparation. Analytical results obtained by this new method were very gratifying.     

Electrochemical Behavior of Dopamine at a Mercury Electrode in the Presence of Citrate: Analytical Applications

Abstract

Dopamine can be determined by voltammetric methods using a mercury electrode, previously oxidized at +0.30 V. The oxidation product formed is stabilized in the presence of citrate and undergoes reduction at ?0.31 V. This work describes the electrochemical behavior of dopamine at a mercury electrode in the presence of citrate and its application in the development of a square‐wave voltammetric method for the dopamine determination in pharmaceutical formulations. The method was in‐house validated for determination of dopamine in injectable formulations. The detectability of the method was 0.02 µg ml^?1.     

Determination of Vitamin A in Infant Milk-Based Formulas and Pharmaceutical Formulations Using Flow Injection with Ce(IV)–Na2SO3 Chemiluminescence Detection

A rapid and simple flow injection (FI) method is reported for the determination of vitamin A (retinol) based on its strong enhancing effect on the Ce(IV)–Na₂SO₃ chemiluminescence (CL) reaction in an acidic solution. The effect of key chemical and physical parameters (i.e., reagent concentrations, flow rate, and sample volume) was optimized and potential interferences examined. Under the selected experimental conditions, a linear calibration was obtained between the CL intensity and vitamin A concentration in the range 0.1–8.0 µg mL^?1 (r ²  = 0.9986, n = 8). The limit of detection (3 s x blank) was 0.01 µg mL^?1 retinol (n = 6) and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for 0.25 µg mL^?1 retinol was 2.3% (n = 10) with a sampling rate of 180 h^?1. The method was successfully applied to infant milk-based formulas and pharmaceutical formulations and the results were not significantly different at 95% confidence interval with those obtained by using a spectrophotometric reference method. The possible CL mechanism is also discussed briefly supporting with UV-visible, fluorescence, and CL spectra.     

Chemiluminescence Determination of Organophosphorus Pesticides Chlorpyrifos in Vegetable

Abstract

A novel chemiluminescence method for the quantitative assay of the organophosphorus pesticide chlorpyrifos in vegetable samples is presented. The determination is based on the reaction of chlorpyrifos with luminol-H₂O₂ in alkaline medium with sodium chloride being enhancer. Under the optimum conditions, the increased CL intensity was proportional with the concentration of chlorpyrifos in the range of 1.0 × 10^?8 g · ml^?1 ? 1.0 × 10^?6 g · ml^?1 and the detection limit was 3.5 × 10^?9 g · ml^?1 (3σ). The relative standard is less than 3.9% for 5.0 × 10^?7g · ml^?1 chlorpyrifos (n = 7). This method has been successfully applied to the determination of chlorpyrifos residue in vegetable sample. Further study was focused on the mechanism of chlorpyrifos and the possible mechanism was proposed.     

Flow‐Injection Spectrophotometric Determination of N‐acetylcysteine in Pharmaceutical Formulations with On‐Line Solid‐Phase Reactor Containing Zn(II) Phosphate Immobilized in a Polyester Resin

Abstract

A flow‐injection spectrophotometric procedure was developed for determining N‐acetylcysteine in pharmaceutical formulations. The sample was dissolved in deionized water and 400 µl of the solution was injected into a carrier stream of 1.0×10^?2 mol l^?1 sodium borate solution. The sample flowed through a column (70 mm length×2.0 mm i.d.) packed with Zn₃(PO₄)₂ immobilized in a polymeric matrix of polyester resin and Zn(II) ions were released from the solid‐phase reactor because of the formation of the Zn(II) (N‐acetylcysteine)₂ complex. The mixture merged with a stream of borate buffer solution (pH 9.0) containing 5.0×10^?4 mol l^?1 Alizarin red S and the Zn(II)Alizarin red complex formed was measured spectrophotometrically at 540 nm. The analytical curve was linear in the N‐acetylcysteine concentration range from 3.0×10^?5 to 1.5×10^?4 mol l^?1 (4.9 to 24.5 µg ml^?1) with a detections limit of 8.0×10^?6 mol l^?1 (1.3 µg ml^?1). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were smaller than 0.5% (n=10) for solutions containing 5.0×10^?5 mol l^?1 (8.0 µg ml^?1) and 8.0×10^?5 mol l^?1 (13.0 µg ml^?1) of N‐acetylcysteine, and the analytical frequency was 60 determinations per hour. A paired t‐test showed that all results obtained for N‐acetylcysteine in commercial formulations using the proposed flow‐injection procedure and a comparative procedure agreed at the 95% confidence level.     

Application of Multivariate Calibration Methods for the Simultaneous Multiwavelength Spectrophotometric Determination of Fe(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) in Mixtures

Abstract

A sensitive method for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Fe(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) in mixtures has been developed with the aid of multivariate calibration methods, such as classical least squares (CLS), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). The method is based on the spectral differences of the analytes in their complexation reaction with 4‐(2‐pyridylazo)‐resorcinol (PAR) and the use of full spectra with wavelengths in the range of 300–600 nm. It was found that both the spectral positive and negative bands obtained against the PAR blank, are proportional to the concentration for each metal complex. The obtained linear calibration concentration ranges are 0.025–0.6, 0.05–0.8, 0.025–0.8, and 0.05–0.8 µg ml^?1 for Fe(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II), respectively, and the LODs for the four metal ions were found to be approximately 1–3×10^?2 µg ml^?1. The proposed method was applied to a verification set of synthetic mixtures of these four metal ions, with models built in three different wavelength ranges, i.e., 300–450, 450–600, and 300–600 nm, corresponding to the positive, negative bands and their combinations, respectively. It was shown that the PLS model for the 300–600 nm range gave the best results (RPE_T=6.9% and average recovery ～100%; cf. PCR: RPE_T=9.5% and average Recovery ～110%). This method was also successfully applied for the determination of the four metal ions in pharmaceutical preparations, chicken feedstuff, and water samples.     

Application of acidic extract of Platanus orientalis tree leaves as a green reagent for selective spectrophotometric determination of zirconium

Abstract

A novel spectrophotometric method for the determination of zirconium by using a new reagent, acidic extract of Platanus orientalis tree leaves is developed. In 6 M hydrochloric acid, zirconium reacts with this reagent to form a yellow product. The formed product shows maximum absorbance at 422 nm with a molar absorptivity value of 0.59×10^? l mol^?1 cm^?1 and the method was linear in the 0.4–8 µg mL^?1 concentration range. The detection limit value was found to be 0.086 µg mL^?1. The proposed method was simple, clean, low cost, selective, and sensitive. It was applied to the determination of zirconium in tap water, wastewater and well water samples with relative standard error of less than 2.5%.     

Mercury speciation by a high performance liquid chromatography—atomic fluorescence spectrometry hyphenated system with photo-induced chemical vapour generation reagent in the mobile phase

Speciation of mercury was accomplished by using a simple interface with photo-induced chemical vapour generation in a high performance liquid chromatography—atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-AFS) hyphenated system. Acetic acid and 2-mercaptoethanol in the mobile phase were used as photochemical reagent. The operating parameters were optimized to give limits of detection of 0.53 µg L^?1, 0.22 µg L^?1, 0.18 µg L^?1 and 0.25 µg L^?1 for inorganic mercury, methylmercury, ethylmercury and phenylmercury, respectively. The method was validated with the certified reference material DORM-2 and applied to the analysis of seafood samples. The HPLC-AFS hyphenated system is simple, environmentally friendly, and represents an attractive alternative to the conventional peroxothiosulfate-borohydride method.