Chemometric methods for the simultaneous determination of some water-soluble vitamins

Two spectrophotometric methods, derivative and multivariate methods, were applied for the determination of binary, ternary, and quaternary mixtures of the water-soluble vitamins thiamine HCI (I), pyridoxine HCI (II), riboflavin (III), and cyanocobalamin (IV). The first method is divided into first derivative and first derivative of ratio spectra methods, and the second into classical least squares and principal components regression methods. Both methods are based on spectrophotometric measurements of the studied vitamins in 0.1 M HCl solution in the range of 200-500 nm for all components. The linear calibration curves were obtained from 2.5-90 microg/mL, and the correlation coefficients ranged from 0.9991 to 0.9999. These methods were applied for the analysis of the following mixtures: (I) and (II); (I), (II), and (III); (I), (II), and (IV); and (I), (II), (III), and (IV). The described methods were successfully applied for the determination of vitamin combinations in synthetic mixtures and dosage forms from different manufacturers. The recovery ranged from 96.1 +/- 1.2 to 101.2 +/- 1.0% for derivative methods and 97.0 +/- 0.5 to 101.9 +/- 1.3% for multivariate methods. The results of the developed methods were compared with those of reported methods, and gave good accuracy and precision.     

Determination of water-soluble vitamins by liquid chromatography with a parallel dual-electrode electrochemical detector

A method for the determination of water-soluble vitamins (ascorbic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, pyridoxal hydrochloride, pyridoxamine dihydrochloride, p-aminobenzoic acid, folic acid) by liquid chromatography, with a parallel dual-electrode electrochemical detector, is described. One electrode was controlled at +0.80 V (vs. SCE), the other at +1.20 V (vs. SCE). The possibility of interference by eight other water-soluble vitamins (riboflavin, nicotinamide, cyanocobalamin, menadione, dextro calcium pantothenate, thiamine, nicotinic acid, dextro biotin) was studied. These vitamins did not interfere when a parallel dual-electrode detector system was used. The estimation of five of the vitamins was studied in detail. The linear ranges found were 10 ng-1.2 mug for pyridoxine hydrochloride, 2 ng-2mug for pyridoxal hydrochloride, 10 ng-3 mug for pyridoxamine dihydrochloride, 5-200 ng for folic acid and 0.6-200 ng for p-aminobenzoic acid, the limits of detection being 3, 0.6, 1, 2 and 0.06 ng respectively. Application of the technique to the estimation of vitamin B(6) in tablets is illustrated. The results indicate that the vitamin B(6) in these tablets existed in the pyridoxine hydrochloride form and the B(6) content agreed well with liquid chromatograph by spectrophotometric analysis.     

Electrochemical behaviour of pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6) at carbon paste electrode modified with crown ethers

The electrochemical behaviour of pyridoxine hydrochloride (pyridoxine HCl) at the plain carbon paste electrode and the electrode modified with oxa crown ether has been studied using voltammetric and impedance measurements. The macrocycles used as modifiers were 18-crown-6, dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6), dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 and dibenzo-24-crown-8, out of which DB18C6 gave better response for pyridoxine HCl. Tris buffer (pH 10.3) was chosen as an appropriate medium among the several supporting electrolytes of varying pH studied. The characterization of the DB18C6-modified electrode (CME-DB18C6) using kinetic parameters such as number of electrons (n) and electron transfer coefficient (α) is studied by cyclic voltammetry. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements obtained confirm the current enhancement over the modified electrode. Analytical applications of this electrode have been studied for the determination of pyridoxine HCl. A sensitive linear working range of 0.6 to 100 μg cm⁻³ with a detection limit of 0.4 μg cm⁻³ by differential pulse voltammetry was observed for pyridoxine HCl on CME-DB18C6. However, on decreasing the scan rate to 5 mV s⁻¹, the detection limit lowered to 0.2 μg cm⁻³. Interference from some vitamins like thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin, nicotinamide, para-aminobenzoic acid, cyanocobalamin, folic acid and d-biotin and amino acid l-tryptophan was studied, and simultaneously, riboflavin, thiamine hydrochloride and pyridoxine HCl were determined over the modified electrode, CME-DB18C6. The modified electrode is successfully used for the determination of pyridoxine HCl in multivitamin pharmaceutical preparations.     

Simultaneous determination of water-soluble vitamins in a vitamin-enriched drink by an in-capillary enzyme reaction method

The in-capillary enzyme reaction method was used to determine riboflavin phosphate in a vitamin-enriched drink based on its conversion to riboflavin (vitamin B2) with alkaline phosphatase. Simultaneously, three water-soluble vitamins [thiamine nitrate (vitamin B2 mononitrate), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6 hydrochloride) and nicotinamide (vitamin PP)] and anhydrous caffeine in the drink were subjected to quantitative analysis. In the system, electrophoretic migration was used to mix zones containing the substrate (riboflavin phosphate) and the enzyme (alkaline phosphatase). The reaction was then allowed to proceed in the presence of a weak electric field and, finally, the product (riboflavin) of enzyme reaction and other water-soluble vitamins migrated under the influence of an applied electric field to the detector. All the active ingredients and the formulation excipients were successfully separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with 135 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate. To prevent inhibition of enzyme reaction by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate to the reaction zone, sandwich mode injection, in which plugs of sandwich solution without sodium dodecyl sulfate were introduced into the capillary on both sides of the reaction zone, was utilized as a barrier to protect the enzyme reaction from the inhibitor. The relationship between the peak area of the product and the concentration of the substrate was calculated in the in-capillary enzyme reaction method. Excellent linearity was obtained, with correlation coefficients of 0.9999. The established method was validated and demonstrated to be applicable to the determination of the five active ingredients, including riboflavin phosphate, in a commercial vitamin-enriched drink. No interference from the formulation excipients was observed. Good linearities were obtained, with correlation coefficients above 0.999. Recoveries and precisions ranged from 99.3 to 101.8%, and from 0.1 to 2.5% RSD, respectively. Good agreement was obtained between the established method and traditional high-performance liquid chromatographic methods. These results suggest that the in-capillary enzyme reaction method can be used for the simultaneous determination of riboflavin phosphate and other water-soluble vitamins in pharmaceuticals.     

Quantification of water soluble vitamins in six date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivar's fruits growing in Dubai,United Arab Emirates,through high performance liquid chromatography

In present investigation, a comparative analysis of water soluble vitamins viz., B1 (thiamine HCl), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinamide), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine HCl), B9 (folic acid), B12 (cyanocobalamin) was carried out in fruits (immature, semimature and mature) of six date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars (“Barhee”, “Khalasah”, “Muzati”, “Shishi”, “Zart”, “Zardai”) growing in United Arab Emirates (UAE) by high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). The fruits were collected at three developing stages (immature, semimature and mature). Quantitative analysis of water soluble vitamins yield showed a significant variation within the different cultivars and the developing stages of date palm fruit. Vitamin B1, B3, B5, B6 were maximum (μg/100 g f.w.) in “Shishi”, “Zardai”, “Shishi” and “Muzati” at their matured stage, however, vitamin B2, B9, B12 were detected in immature fruit of “Khalasah”, “Khalasah” and “Shishi” cultivars. The vitamin production in fruits of different date palm cultivars was, therefore, developing stage specific and cultivar dependent. The present study showed that the date palm fruit could be used for human consumption with value addition of water soluble vitamins at their specific developmental stages.     

The optimization of HPLC-UV conditions for use with FTIR detection in the analysis of B vitamins

The water-soluble vitamins thiamine (B(1)), riboflavin (B(2)), pantothenic acid (B(5)), and pyridoxine (B(6)) are separated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The mobile phase, column temperature, and flow rate are optimized so that the chromatograph can be used with a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) detector. Reproducibility, linearity, and detection limits are evaluated for method validation. Finally, this method is successfully transferred to liquid chromatography-FTIR with a standard mixture.     

Development of a validated HPLC method for the determination of B-complex vitamins in pharmaceuticals and biological fluids after solid phase extraction

An HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of seven water-soluble vitamins, viz. thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin, and folic acid, in multivitamin pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids (blood serum and urine). Separation was achieved at ambient temperature on a Phenomenex Luna C18 (150 x 4.6 mm) analytical column. Gradient elution was performed starting at a 99:1 A:B v/v composition, where A: 0.05 M CH3COONH4/CH3OH (99/1) and B: H2O/CH3OH (50/50), at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. After a 4-min isocratic elution the composition was changed to 100% of B in 18 min and elution continued isocratically for 8 min. Detection was performed with a photodiode array detector at 280 nm. Each vitamin was quantitatively determined at its maximum wavelength. Spectral comparison was used for peak identification in real samples. Detection limits were in the range of 1.6-3.4 ng, per 20-microL injection, while linearity held up to 25 ng/microL. Accuracy, intra-day repeatability (n = 6), and inter-day precision (n = 7) were found to be satisfactory. Theobromine (2 ng/microL) was used as internal standard. Sample preparation of biological fluids was performed by SPE on Supelclean LC-18 cartridges with methanol-water 85/15 v/v as eluent. Extraction recoveries from biological matrices ranged from 84.6% to 103.0%.     

Simultaneous determination of nicotinamide,pyridoxine hydrochloride,thiamine mononitrate and riboflavin in multivitamin with minerals tablets by reversed-phase ion-pair high performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase ion-pair high performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) has been developed and validated for the routine analysis of nicotinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate and riboflavin in multivitamin with minerals tablets. HPLC separation of the vitamins was performed on a Hypersil C(18) column and detected by ultraviolet absorbance at 280 nm. The use of methanol-aqueous 0.5% acetic acid solution (18:82, v/v; containing 2.5 mM sodium hexanesulfonate, pH = 2.8) as the mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1.2 mL/min enables the baseline separation of the four analytes free from interferences with isocratic elution at 30 degrees C. The analysis time was 17 min per injection. The method was linear in the ranges of 5-90, 2.5-90, 5-95 and 25-450 micro g/mL for thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride and nicotinamide, respectively. The average coefficients of variation of within- and between-day assays were 2.2 and 3.6% for thiamine mononitrate, 1.8 and 2.4% for riboflavin, 1.3 and 1.7% for pyridoxine hydrochloride and 1.0 and 1.5% for nicotinamide, respectively. The average recoveries of thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride and nicotinamide were 97.0, 97.2, 98.9 and 100.4% for the tablets, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of nicotinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate and riboflavin in multivitamin with minerals tablets.     

Determination of eight water- and fat-soluble vitamins in multi-vitamin pharmaceutical formulations by high-performance liquid chromatography

In the present work, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for the determination of water-soluble vitamins (thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, nicotinamide, riboflavin phosphoric ester and cyanocobalamine) and fat-soluble vitamins (retinol palmitate, cholecalciferol, -tocopherol acetate) in multi-vitamin pharmaceutical formulations. The sample treatment proposed consists of a solid-phase extraction with C₁₈ AR cartridges that allow the separation of fat-soluble vitamins, which were retained on the sorbent, from water-soluble vitamins. Afterwards, the water-soluble vitamins were analysed by HPLC on a Nova-Pack C₁₈ (150×3.9 mm, 4 μm) analytical column, using CH₃OH–0.05 M CH₃COONH₄ as mobile phase The chromatographic analysis of the fat-soluble vitamins was carried out after their sequential elution with methanol and chloroform from C₁₈ sorbent, on the above column. The mobile phase employed was MeOH–CH₃CN (95:5, v/v) working at a flow-rate of 2 ml min⁻¹ in isocratic mode. The solid-phase extraction for these vitamins had been previously optimised. The experimental variables studied were: application volume, elution solvents and cleaning solutions. The UV–Vis detection of vitamins was made at 270 nm for all the water-soluble vitamins (362 nm for B₁₂) and 285 nm for the water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins present in real samples at different concentration levels. The accuracy of the method was tested obtaining an average recovery ranging between 78 and 116%.     

Separation of water-soluble vitamins by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with ultra-violet detection: application to polyvitaminated premixes

Nine water-soluble vitamins: [thiamine (B1), ascorbic acid (C), nicotinamide (PP), pyridoxine (B6), calcium pantothenate (B5), folic acid (B9), cyanocobalamin (B12), riboflavin (B2) and biotin (B8)] were separated on a YMC-Pack Pro C18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm particle size) in a single run with a gradient elution of mobile phase consisting of 0.025% trifluoroacetic acid pH 2.6 (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B). The separation was achieved within 17 min with a flow rate of 0.8 ml min(-1) and the detection was performed at two wavelengths (210 and 275 nm). The calibration graphs plotted with six concentrations of each vitamin were linear with a regression coefficient R2 > 0.995. The method was applied for the quantification of vitamins B1, C, PP, B6, B5, B9 B2 and B8 in polyvitaminated premixes (premixes) used for the fortification of infant nutrition products. The sample preparation involves an aqueous extraction of vitamins and two different samples dilution were used prior the LC-analysis. The specificity of the method was demonstrated by the retention characteristics, UV spectra and by comparing the peak purity with the standard of each vitamin. The repeatability of the method was evaluated at different level of concentrations on 12 premixes and the coefficients of variation (CVr) were below 6.5%. The values of the intermediate precision (CV1) were below 9.6% (n = 6). The concentrations of vitamins found in premixes with our method were comparable to the declared values, since no bias was found between the two sets of results at 95% confidence. The simplicity of the procedure should make it highly desirable for quality control of premixes in the food industry.     

Micellar liquid chromatography determination of B vitamins with direct injection and ultraviolet absorbance detection

A micellar reversed-phase liquid chromatographic procedure was developed for the control of five water-soluble vitamins, B (nicotinamide), B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6 (pyridoxine and pyridoxamine), in multivitamin pharmaceutical formulations (capsules, pills and syrups). Optimization procedure includes studies about the composition of the mobile phase (sodium dodecyl sulphate and the modifiers propanol, butanol or pentanol), flow-rate and temperature. Chromatographic analysis of all vitamins was carried out using a single mobile phase of 0.1 M SDS-4% (v/v) pentanol at pH 3, in a C18 column in isocratic mode, and UV-detection at 270, 290 and 325 nm. The flow-rates selected were 1.0 ml/min in the interval 0 to 6 min, and 2.0 ml/min until the end of the chromatogram and temperature was 45 degrees C. In the micellar liquid chromatographic system, the samples were injected without pretreatment, and the analysis time was below 12 min. Repeatabilities and intermediate precision were achieved according to ICH, and were below 5%. When the method is applied to real samples, the amount found with respect to the declared compositions were within the 91-105% range. These results were similar to those obtained with a conventional 60:40 (v/v) methanol-water mixture for some of the vitamins, but with the advantage of use a single mobile phase for the analyses of the five vitamins, with direct injection of the samples and reduced toxicity, flammability, environmental impact and cost of the micellar-pentanol solutions.     

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography on an amide stationary phase for the determination of the B group vitamins in baby foods

A liquid chromatographic method for the separation and determination of several water-soluble vitamins of the B group is proposed. The procedure is based on the use of a new amide-based stationary phase, which avoids the need of using the ion-pair technique, leading to narrower peaks and a simpler mobile phase. Analyses were performed by gradient elution with acetonitrile-phosphate buffer as mobile phase and using a photodiode array detector. Specificity was demonstrated by the retention characteristics, UV spectra and by comparing the peak purity index with commercial standards. Linearity, precision, recovery and sensitivity were satisfactory. The vitamins are extracted from the baby food using a single digestion with hydrochloric acid followed by enzymatic digestion with taka-diastase. The method was successfully applied to the determination of nine vitamins: thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide, nicotinic acid, pyridoxine, pyridoxal, folic acid, cyanocobalamine and inosine in different baby foods as infant formulas, cereals and fruit products. Validation was performed using two certified reference materials.     

Use of capillary electrophoresis for the determination of vitamins of the B group in pharmaceutical preparations

The separation of four water-soluble vitamins, i.e., thiamine, riboflavine, pyridoxine and nicotinamide, was investigated by capillary zone electrophoresis and micellar electrokinetic chromatography. The usefulness of the internal standard technique in order to improve the precision of peak area when either the migration time or the injection volume varied was demonstrated. Quantitative analyses of different pharmaceutical formulations were compared with the LC method of the US Pharmacopeia. A good correlation was obtained.     

高效液相色谱分离-在线光化学衍生/荧光光谱法测定5种水溶性维生素的研究

建立了高效液相色谱分离-在线光化学衍生/荧光光谱法测定水溶性维生素烟酸(NIA)、烟酸胺(NIC)、B1、B12及B2的新方法.以含有0.018 mol/L三乙胺、0.002 mol/L庚烷磺酸钠的0.05 mol/L磷酸盐缓冲液(A相,pH 5.8)和甲醇(B相)为流动相(85:15),等度洗脱分离5种水溶性维生素;...     

Design of experiments for micellar electrokinetic chromatography method development for the monitoring of water-soluble vitamins in cell culture medium

Biopharmaceutical production takes place in complex processes which should be thoroughly understood. Therefore, the iConsensus project focuses on developing a monitoring platform integrating several process analytical technology tools for integrated, automated monitoring of the biopharmaceutical process. Water-soluble vitamin monitoring using (microchip) capillary electrophoresis (CE) is part of this platform. This work comprises the development of conventional CE methods as the first part towards integrated vitamin monitoring. The vitamins were divided based on their physical–chemical properties to develop two robust methods. Previously, a method for the analysis of cationic vitamins (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, thiamine and nicotinamide) in cell culture medium was developed. This work focused on the development of a micellar electrokinetic chromatography method for anionic and neutral vitamins (riboflavin, d -calcium pantothenate, biotin, folic acid, cyanocobalamin and ascorbic acid). By employing multivariate design of experiments, the background electrolyte (BGE) could be optimised within one experiment testing only 11 BGEs. The optimised BGE conditions were 200 mM borate with 77 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate at a pH of 8.6. Using this BGE, all above-mentioned cationic, anionic and neutral vitamins could be separated in clean samples. In cell culture medium, most anionic and neutral vitamins could be separated. Combining the two methods allows for analysis of cationic, anionic and neutral vitamins in cell culture medium samples. The next step towards integrated vitamin monitoring includes transfer to microchip CE. Due to the lack of fast and reliable methods for vitamin monitoring, the developed capillary methods could be valuable as stand-alone at-line process analytical technology solutions as well.     

Electrochemical behavior of nicotinamide using carbon paste electrode modified with macrocyclic compounds

The electrochemical behavior of nicotinamide was studied at a carbon paste electrode and the electrodes modified with macrocyclic compounds using voltammetric and impedance measurements. The electrodes so formed were able to bind nicotinamide ions chemically and gave better voltammetric responses than the unmodified ones. The macrocycles used as modifiers for the electrode preparation were 18-crown-6, dicyclohexano-18-crown-6, dibenzo-18-crown-6, 7,16-dibenzyl-1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecane, 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexathiacyclooctadecane (Hexathia), 1,4,7,10-tetratosyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane, 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclooctadecane, c-Methylcalix[4]resorcenarene and calix[8]arene. Among these macrocyclic modified electrodes, hexathia showed more affinity towards nicotinamide and a 2.3-fold increase in voltammetric signal was obtained. Impedance measurement was used to confirm this enhancement observed on modified electrode. This increase in anodic peak current was then used for finding linear working range, which was 0.1–500 μg mL⁻¹ with a detection limit of 0.03 μg mL⁻¹ by DPV. Interference from other vitamins like thiamine HCl (Vit. B₁), riboflavin (Vit. B₂), pyridoxine HCl (Vit. B₆) cynocobamine (Vit. B₁₂), para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and ascorbic acid (Vit. C) was also studied. The modified electrode could be used for the simultaneous determination of riboflavin, nicotinamide and pyridoxine HCl. It has also been utilized for the analysis of nicotinamide in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Sample preparation for CE-DAD analysis of the water soluble vitamins in food products

The capillary electrophoretic separation of six water-soluble vitamins (thiamine, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, d-pantothenic acid, pyridoxine and ascorbic acid) was studied. Four CE backgrounds electrolytes were optimized and the most suitable ones were applied for investigation of analytes in real samples (yeast, beer, syrups). Several extraction procedures were performed in order to extract vitamins from proteins and phosphate groups. The research showed that it is possible to minimize interference from the solution with a complex composition and overcome the problem of peak overlapping by exchanging separation BGEs. Moreover, the second order data generated by CE-DAD instrument and Chemstation software (Agilents Technologies) were used to check of the peak purity.     

HILIC separation and quantitation of water‐soluble vitamins using diol column

Hydrophilic interaction liquid‐chromatography (HILIC) in conjunction with diode array detection has been applied for the separation of selected‐water‐soluble vitamins using an end‐capped HILIC‐diol column. Vitamins with significant biological importance, such as thiamine (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), nicotinic acid (B₃), nicotinamide (B₃), pyridoxine (B₆), folic acid (B₉), cyanocobalamin (B₁₂) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) were simultaneously separated. Chromatographic conditions including type and percentage of organic modifier in the mobile phase, pH, type and concentration of buffer salt and flow rate were investigated. ACN was shown to offer superior separation for the compounds tested as compared to methanol, isopropanol and THF. Isocratic separation and analysis were achieved for six vitamins (B₁, B₂, nicotinic acid/nicotinamide, B₆ and C) at ACN–H₂O 90:10, containing ammonium acetate 10 mM, triethylamine 20 mM, pH 5.0, using a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min, while a gradient was necessary to resolve a mixture of all eight water‐soluble vitamins. The HILIC method was validated and successfully applied to the analysis of a pharmaceutical formulation and an energy drink negating the need for time consuming clean‐up steps.     

Comparison of different extraction methods for simultaneous determination of B complex vitamins in nutritional yeast using LC/MS-TOF and stable isotope dilution assay

The application of LC/MS-TOF method combined with stable isotope dilution assay was studied for determination of thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide, nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, pyridoxal, and pyridoxine in food. Nutritional yeast powder was used as a model food matrix. Acid extraction was compared with various enzymatic treatments in ammonium formate buffer to find a suitable method for the conversion of more complex vitamers into the same forms as the used isotope-labeled internal standards. The enzyme preparations α-amylase, takadiastase, β-glucosidase, and acid phosphatase were all able to liberate thiamine and riboflavin. The diastatic enzyme preparations α-amylase and takadiastase also expressed proteolytic side activities resulting in the formation of small peptides which interfered with the mass spectra of thiamine and riboflavin. Liberation of nicotinamide and pantothenic acid from NAD⁺ and CoA, respectively, could not be achieved with any of the studied enzyme preparations. Hydrochloric acid extraction at 121 °C for 30 min was found to be destructive to pantothenic acid, but increased the liberation of pyridoxal.

Simultaneous determination of codeine and pyridoxine in pharmaceutical preparations by first-derivative spectrofluorimetry

A method for the simultaneous determination of codeine and pyridoxine was developed, based on the measurement of their native fluorescence signals, by using first-derivative spectrofluorimetry to resolve the mixture. Codeine was measured at lambda(em) = 309 nm, and pyridoxine was measured at lambda(em) = 450 nm. Instrumental parameters were optimized, and the emission spectra were recorded between 275 and 475 nm, at lambda(ex) = 255 nm and excitation and emission slit widths of 2.5 and 10 nm, respectively. Systematic studies on the influence of species usually present along with the analytes (such as caffeine, ascorbic acid, paracetamol, and thiamine) were also performed. The calibration graphs were linear over the ranges of 0.5-7.0 and 0.1-1.0 microg/mL for codeine and pyridoxine, respectively, and the relative standard deviations (n = 10) were about 3%. The method was successfully applied to the determination of codeine and pyridoxine in solutions of synthetic mixtures and in synthetic and semisynthetic pharmaceutical formulations.