Generic Automated Fluorimetric Assay for the Quality Control of Gamma Aminobutyric Acid-Analogue Anti-Epileptic Drugs Using Sequential Injection

The first sequential injection assay for the generic determination of gabapentin and pregabalin is reported. The analytes react with o-phthalaldehyde in the presence of N-acetylcysteine as a nucleophilic reagent in alkaline medium under flow conditions to form highly fluorescent derivatives. The effect of the main instrumental and chemical variables on the assay was examined. The proposed method was validated for both analytes in terms of linearity, detection, and quantitation limits (c _L  = 160 μg L^?1, c _Q  = 480 μg L^?1 for gabapentin, and c _L  = 70 μg L^?1, c _Q  = 210 μg L^?1 for pregabalin), precision (s _r  < 1.0% in both cases), selectivity, and accuracy. The applicability of the assay was demonstrated by successfully analyzing commercially available formulations. The experimental percent recoveries were in the range of 97.9–102.0% for gabapentin and 98.3–102.3% for pregabalin.     

Automated Derivatization of Pharmaceutically Active Thiols Under Flow Conditions Using an o-Phthalaldehyde/Glycine Fluorogenic System and Sequential Injection Analysis

The present study reports a new automated, generic analytical method for the determination of the pharmaceutically active thiols captopril (CAP), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and D-Penicillamine (PEN). The proposed sequential injection (SI) method is based on the on-line reaction of the selected thiols with o-phthalaldehyde/glycine in alkaline medium (pH = 9.5) to form highly fluorescent iso -indole derivatives. The effect of all major flow and reaction variables was investigated, while validation was carried out in terms of linearity/range (2.5–7.5 mg L^?1), limits of detection (1.6–2.3 µ g L^?1), quantification (5.3–7.7 µ g L^?1), precision (0.9–1.2% for repeatability and 3.5–4.9% for intermediate precision), selectivity, and accuracy (98.3–102.8%). The developed method was applied to the assay and dosage uniformity tests of various pharmaceutical formulations at a sampling rate of 73 h^?1.     

A Multicommuted Flow‐based System for Hydrogen Peroxide Determination by Chemiluminescence Detection Using a Photodiode

Abstract

A simple, rapid, and automated assay for hydrogen peroxide in pharmaceutical samples was developed by combining the multicommutation system with a chemiluminescence (CL) detector. The detection was performed using a spiral flow‐cell reactor made from polyethylene tubing that was positioned in front of a photodiode. It allows the rapid mixing of CL reagent and analyte and simultaneous detection of the emitted light. The chemiluminescence was based on the reaction of luminol with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by hexacyanoferrate(III).

The feasibility of the flow system was ascertained by analyzing a set of pharmaceutical samples. A linear response within the range of 2.2–210 µmol l^?1 H₂O₂ with a LD of 1.8 µmol l^?1 H₂O₂ and coefficient of variations smaller than 0.8% for 1.0×10^?5 mol l^?1 and 6.8×10^?5 mol l^?1 hydrogen peroxide solutions (n=10) were obtained. Reagents consumption of 90 µg of luminol and 0.7 mg of hexacyanoferrate(III) per determination and sampling rate of 200 samples per hour were also achieved.     

银（III）配合物-鲁米诺流动注射化学发光新体系测定肾上腺素

儿茶酚胺是一类非常重要的神经递质,在人体的心血管系统、神经系统、内分泌腺、肾脏、平滑肌等组织系统的生理活动中起着广泛的调节作用。肾上腺素为儿茶酚胺的一种,建立灵敏、高效的肾上腺素检测技术具有重要的临床意义。本文将银（Ⅲ）配合物与鲁米诺组成新的流动注射化学发光体系,利用碱性介质中肾上腺素对三价银配合物－鲁米诺化学发光体系有明显的增强效应来测定肾上腺素的含量,并据此建立了高效测定肾上腺素的流动注射化学发光新方法。在优化的条件下,该方法测定肾上腺素的线型范围为1.0×10－9～1.0×10－7 mol L-1,检出限为8.0×10－10 mol L-1,对1.5×10－8 mol L-1肾上腺素11次平行测定,其相对标偏差为2.9％。利用建立的分析方法测定了药物肾上腺素,并对三价银－鲁米诺化学发光新体系测定肾上腺素的反应机理进行了讨论。     

Flow Injection Spectrophotometric Determination of N-Acetylcysteine and Captopril Employing Prussian Blue Generation Reaction

A novel flow injection procedure to determine N-acetylcysteine and captopril in pharmaceutical formulations is proposed. The flow procedure developed was based on oxidation of the analytes by Fe(III) in acidic medium and subsequent reaction of the Fe(II) generated with excess hexacyanoferrate(III) to produce soluble Prussian blue (KFe[Fe(CN)₆]) measured at 700 nm. Detection limits of 1.0 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 and 3.0 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 for N-acetylcysteine and captopril, respectively, were found. The sample throughput was 70 h^?1 for both analytes and the results obtained were in agreement at a 95% confidence level with those obtained using reference methods.     

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.     

Determination of Silver with On-Line Preconcentration Using Dithiozone Chelate and Carbon Nanotubes for Preconcentration with Detection by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A novel flow injection system incorporating a micro-column packed with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as an adsorbent has been applied to the on-line preconcentration of trace silver with detection by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Silver is first chelated by dithizone (H₂Dz), then retained on the CNTs surface and afterward quantitatively eluted by methanol. Influencing parameters, including the concentration of reaction reagent, enrichment variables, and elution variables were investigated. The adsorption mechanisms of Ag-H₂Dz chelate retained onto the CNTs surface have also been studied. By loading 6.9 mL sample solution, a linear calibration graph is obtained within the range of 3–120 µg L^?1 with R of 0.9996, and a detection limit (3σ) of 0.8 µg L^?1 is achieved, along with a precision of 1.6% R.S.D. at the 30 µg L^?1 level (n = 7). The dynamic sorption capacity of CNTs for silver is 122 mg g^?1. The procedure is demonstrated by measurement of spike recovery in a series of water samples, giving rise to spike recoveries in the range of 96.8–99.7%.     

Multivariate optimisation of a rapid and simple automated method for bismuth determination in well water samples exploiting long path length spectrophotometry

An automated spectrophotometric system is proposed for the determination of bismuth in well water samples, using multi-syringe flow injection analysis (MSFIA) and exploiting a liquid waveguide capillary cell (LWCC). This method is based on the colorimetric reaction of bismuth and methylthymol blue (MTB) in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in acid medium (0.1 mol L^?1 HNO₃). The Bi(III)–MTB complex was measured at 600 nm. The method was optimised by multivariate techniques. Some figures of merit of the proposed system are worth being highlighted, such as its wide linear working range (between 4.9 and 600 μg L^?1), its low detection limit (1.5 μg L^?1 of bismuth) and its high intra-day precision and inter-day precision (0.7% (n = 12) and 1.4% (n = 5), respectively, both expressed as RSD). Moreover, a high injection frequency of 30 h^?1 is achieved, as the proposed analyser is a powerful tool for fast Bi(III) determination. The method developed was successfully validated by analysing reference samples (pharmaceutical samples) by comparing the results with those obtained by ICP-OES and it was satisfactorily applied to well water samples. Besides, the present system is miniaturised allowing in situ measurements in control processes and field analysis.     

Determination of Aluminum Traces in Hemodialysis and Tap Water Using Standard Method's Procedure Modified and Flow Injection Ionic Exchange Preconcentration

Abstract

A procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of aluminum traces in water using a flow injection (FI) preconcentration system has been proposed. The flow system was made up of a peristaltic pump, an injector‐commutator, and a minicolumn filled with 300.0 mg of Amberlite IR‐120 cationic exchange resin. After the preconcentration step, aluminum was eluted by a 4.0 mol l^?1 HCl solution. In a second stage, out of the flow system, the eluate was neutralized with a 4.0 mol l^?1 NaOH solution. The aluminum was submitted to the reaction with eriochrome cyanine to form a chelate in solution buffered to pH 5.85, according to the Standard Method's procedure with some modifications, and this was followed by spectrophotometric detection. Chemical and flow variables were studied in the preconcentration system. The precision of the proposed method was calculated for a solution containing 46.8 µg l^?1 of Al(III), when 40.0 ml of solution were preconcentrated (n=7), and their respective relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.8%. The detection limit obtained was 1.7 µg l^?1 of Al(III) (sample volume=40.0 ml). The proposed method was successful in determining aluminum in water certified reference material.     

Self-assembled sensor based on boron-doped diamond and its application in voltammetric analysis of picloram

A self-assembled sensor based on a boron-doped diamond was investigated as a sensitive tool for voltammetric analysis of a member of a pyridine herbicide family - picloram. A cyclic voltammetry and a differential pulse voltammetry were applied for investigation of the voltammetric behaviour and quantification of this herbicide. Picloram yielded one well-developed irreversible oxidation signal at a very positive potential about +1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl/3 mol L^?1 KCl electrode in an acidic medium and 1 mol L^?1 H₂SO₄ was chosen as a suitable supporting electrolyte. Operating parameters of differential pulse voltammetry were optimized and the proposed voltammetric method provided a high repeatability (a relative standard deviation of 20 repeated measurements at a concentration level of picloram of 50 µmol L^?1 equaled to 2.58%), a linear concentration range from 2.5 to 90.9 µmol L^?1 and a low limit of detection (LD = 1.64 µmol L^?1). Practical usefulness of the ‘environmentally-green’ electrochemical sensor was verified by an analysis of spiked water samples with satisfactory recoveries.     

Chemiluminescent Determination of Vitamin B12 Using Charge Coupled Device (CCD)

A method was developed for the determination of vitamin B₁₂ based on the enhancement of cobalt (II) on the chemiluminescence (CL) reaction between luminol and percarbonate (powerful source of hydrogen peroxide). The release of cobalt (II) from the vitamin B₁₂ was reached by a simple and fast microwave digestion (20 s microwave digestion time and a mix of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide). A charge coupled device (CCD) photodetector, directly connected to the cell, coupled with a simple continuous flow system was used to obtain the full spectral characteristics of cobalt (II) catalyzed luminol-percarbonate reaction.

The optima experimental conditions were established: 8.0 m mol L^?1 luminol in a 0.075 mol L^?1 carbonate buffer (pH 10.0) and 0.15 mol L^?1 sodium percarbonate, in addition to others experimental parameters as 0.33 mL s^?1 flow rate and 2 s integration time, were the experimental conditions which proportionate the optimum CL emission intensity. The emission data were best fitted with a second-order calibration graph over the cobalt (II) concentration range from 4.00 to 300 µ g L^?1 (r² = 0.9990), with a detection limit of 0.42 µ g L^?1. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of vitamin B₁₂ in pharmaceuticals.     

Determination of Trenbolone Acetate in Cattle Feeds by a Flow Injection Chemiluminescence Method

A flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) method is described for the determination of trenbolone acetate based on the CL generated during its reaction with KMnO₄ in acidic medium. The CL intensity is greatly enhanced by alizarin yellow R. The CL intensity is linear with trenbolone acetate concentration in the range 0.1–100.0 mg L^?1 with a detection limit of 0.05 mg L^?1. The sample throughout is about 90 h^?1 and the relative standard deviation for 2.0 mg L^?1 trenbolone acetate solution is 1.5% (n = 11). The proposed method was applied to the determination of trenbolone acetate in cattle feeds.     

Flow Injection Post-Chemiluminescence Reaction of Astemizole in N-Bromosuccinimide-Calcein System and Its Application

A flow injection post chemiluminescence (FI-PCL) reaction was found when astemizole was mixed with the CL reaction mixture of N-bromosuccinimide and calcein under alkaline conditions. Based on this observation, a simple and sensitive post chemiluminescence (PCL) technique for the assay of astemizole was described. Under the optimized conditions, the PCL values responded linearly to the concentration of astemizole in the range 1.0 × 10^?3–3.0 µg/mL, with a detection limit of 7.0 × 10^?4 µg/mL. The relative standard deviation was 1.7% for 1.0 × 10^?2 µg/mL astemizole solution (n = 13). It was applied to the determination of astemizole in pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results.     

Flow‐Injection Pulsed‐Amperometric Determination of Free Glycerol in Biodiesel at a Gold Electrode

This work reports the highly‐sensitive amperometric determination of free glycerol in biodiesel at a gold electrode adapted in a flow‐injection analysis (FIA) cell. The amperometric method involved the continuous application of three sequential pulses to the working electrode (+250 mV, +700 mV, and ?200 mV, for 100 ms each). This sequence of potential pulses eliminated electrode passivation and dramatically increased the analytical signal. The proposed FIA‐amperometric method presented low relative standard deviation between injections (1.5 %, n=15), high analytical frequency (85 h^?1), satisfactory recovery values (93–118 %) for spiked samples, wide linear range (from 1 to 300 µmol L^?1), and low detection limit (0.5 µmol L^?1).     

The Use of Boron‐Doped Diamond Electrodes for the Amperometric Determination of Flavonoids in a Flow Injection System

Abstract

This paper describes the use of boron‐doped diamond electrode for the amperometric detection and quantification of flavonoids in tea samples using a flow injection system. Flavonoids are phenol derivates widely distributed in fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers, vegetable peels, and beverages; they are known to exhibit high antioxidative activities. After optimization, the experiments were performed at a fixed potential of 0.42 V vs Ag/AgCl with a flow rate of 2.5 ml min^?1 in a Britton‐Robinson buffer at pH 5.0. The results revealed that the peak current increases linearly with rutin concentration in the interval 0.1–2.5×10^?4 mol L^?1 and the detection limit was 7.7×10^?6 mol L^?1. The method was used for the determination of rutin in three different green tea (Camellia sinensis) infusions by the direct addition of 150 µL of untreated sample. The repeatability of current responses for injections of 150 µL rutin was evaluated to be 2.1% (n=20) and the analytical frequency was 100 Hz h^?1. The results were compared with the results obtained by high‐performance liquid chromatrography‐diode ray detector.     

Flow injection determination of cyromazine in natural water samples using diperiodatoargentate(III)–H2SO4–chemiluminescence system

A simple and sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) procedure is proposed for the determination of cyromazine (CYR) using flow injection technique. CYR has strong enhancing effect on the CL reaction of diperiodatoargentate-(III) complex (DPA) in H₂SO₄ medium. The CL intensity with solid phase extraction (SPE) technique and with and without using online ion exchange resin column (IERC; OH-form) was proportional to the concentration of CYR over the range 0.1–200, 10–1000 and 2–2500 µg L^–1 (R² = 0.9974, 0.9980 and 0.9990, n = 7 each), respectively. Under the conditions, the limits of detection (S/N = 3) 0.029, 2.5 and 0.5 µg L^–1, relative standard deviations (n = 3) 1.9–3.6%, 1.4–2.7% and 1.0–3.0% and sample throughputs were 120, 80 and 120 h^–1. The effect of reagents concentration, flow rate, sample loop volume, photomultiplier voltage and IERC length was optimised. The mean results for natural water samples analysed by the proposed method were not significantly different at 95% confidence limit with the previously reported HPLC method. Interference from chloride ions could be eliminated by using SPE procedure or incorporating an in-line IERC. The CL mechanism of DPA–H₂SO₄–CYR system was also discussed briefly.     

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.     

Development of a Flow Injection Manifold for Napropamide Determination by Photo-Induced Chemiluminescence

A new, rapid, and simple method is proposed for the determination of the pesticide napropamide by photo-induced chemiluminescence detection coupled with a flow injection analysis (FIA) system. The emission was obtained by oxidation with periodate in basic medium, of the photoproducts generated on-line by UV irradiation (254 nm) of napropamide in acidic SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) medium. The flow method, in combination with the solid phase extraction (SPE) performed off-line with C₁₈ cartridges, allowed the determination of this pesticide over the 0.8–14.0 µ gL^?1 range, with a limit of detection of 0.3 µ gL^?1. The relative standard deviation (n = 9) at 2.5 µ gL^?1 level was 4.3% for the combined FIA-SPE system. After testing the influence of several potential interfering compounds, including ions and other pesticides, the method was successfully applied to the determination of napropamide in spiked water samples with recoveries between 96–103%.     

Yields of Hydrogen and Hydrogen Peroxide from Argon–Water Vapor in Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Controlled chemical transformation of water vapor in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) of argon into hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide for its usability as in situ or ex situ H₂ and H₂O₂ source are reported. Online analysis of the product gas mixture by conventional wet-chemical colorimetric method using buffered KI absorber solution revealed typical H₂O₂ G-value = 6.4 × 10^?3 µmol J^?1 (G-value defines as the number of molecules produced/consumed per 100 eV of energy; in SI unit G-value is expressed in µmol J^?1) in the absence of ozone. On the other hand, H₂ in product mixture analyzed in gas chromatograph-thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD) with argon carrier revealed its G-value = 0.134 µmol J^?1. Enhancements in products’ yields were explored by varying gas residence time inside the plasma zone, and applied voltage and frequency on the dielectric surfaces. Employing a double-DBD reactor, at applied high voltage ~2.5 kV mm^?1 @50 Hz and gas residence time ~20 s resulted in the highest yields of H₂O₂. However, the H₂ yield increased continuously with increase in gas residence time. On the other hand, the single-dielectric barrier surface reactors were more efficient for high and exclusive generation of ex situ H₂ (e.g. maximum 1260 ppm; G-value typically 0.498 µmol J^?1).     

A Flow Injection Chemiluminescence Method for the Determination of Protein Using Copper(II)-Alizarin Red S Complex as an Efficient Chemiluminescent Probe

A sensitive flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) method is proposed for the determination of bovine serum albumin (BSA) using Copper(II)-Alizarin Red S (ARS) complex as an efficient chemiluminescent probe. The detection is based on the binding of the copper(II)-ARS complex to proteins and the catalytic activity of copper(II)-ARS in the luminol-H₂O₂ CL system. Under the selected conditions, the CL intensity is linear with the concentration of BSA in the range of 5.0 × 10^?11 to 1.0 × 10^?9 mol · L^?1. The detection limit was 2.0 × 10^?11 mol · L^?1. The method is successfully applied to the determination of protein in urine.