Phosphomolybdic acid as a reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of certain phenothiazine derivatives of pharmaceutical products

Phosphomolybdic acid is used as reagent for colorimetric determination of phenothiazine derivatives in various pharmaceutical products. The reagent oxidizes the derivative to a cationic free radical, with which it then forms a coloured salt. The method is simple and rapid. A preliminary extraction is necessary if certain reductants (sulphite or ascorbic acid) are present as stabilizers of the pharmaceuticals, as otherwise they reduce the reagent to phosphomolybdenum blue.