Sensitive synchronous spectrofluorimetric methods for the determination of naproxen and diflunisal in serum

The interaction of diflunisal and naproxen with several surfactants was studied. Spectrofluorimetric methods were developed for the determination of both drugs in sodium dodecylsulfate micellar medium. The mixture of these drugs was resolved by synchronous fluorescence spectrometry using two scans. At Δλ = 20 nm, only naproxen yields a detectable signal that is unaffected by the presence of diflunisal. At Δλ = 110 nm the signal of diflunisal is not influenced by the presence of an up to 3-fold excess of naproxen. Mixtures containing naproxen/ diflunisal in ratios from 50:1 to 1:50 were analyzed with good results. The linear calibration ranges of both drugs were ca 0.02–2.0 μg mL^–1. The method has satisfactorily been applied to a mixture of both drugs in serum.     

Spectrofluorometric determination of hesperidin by manual and flow-injection methods

A reliable and highly sensitive method for the determination of hesperidin is described. It involves the formation of a highly fluorescent complex between hesperidin and aluminium (III) in a micellar medium. There is a linear relationship between fluorescence intensity (λ_em = 496 nm, λ_ex = 391 nm) and hesperidin concentration over the range 5 × 10^–7– 2 × 10^–5 mol L^–1. The detection limit is 79 μg L^–1. The method can easily be adapted to a flow system using a three-channel manifold, the peak height being proportional to the hesperidin concentration over the range 1 × 10^–6– 1 × 10^–4 mol L^–1. Manual and flow-injection procedures have been successfully applied to the determination of hesperidin in orange peel and orange juice. Received: 21 October 1998 / Revised: 16 December 1998 / Accepted: 25 December 1998     

A simple solid phase spectrofluorimetric method combined with flow analysis for the rapid determination of salicylamide and salicylic acid in pharmaceutical samples

A new, sensitive and very simple spectrofluorimetric biparameter sensor is described for the determination of salicylamide and/or salicylic acid in pharmaceutical preparations. The method integrates the transitory retention and fluorescence detection of both compounds on Sephadex QAE A-25 resin packed into a conventional flow-through cell. A monochannel manifold with two alternative carriers is used. At pH 2.0 (first carrier) salicylic acid is selectively retained on the solid support and after developing the analytical signal it is desorbed. At pH 11.0 (second carrier) both salicylic acid and salicylamide are simultaneously and transitorily retained on the solid, the analytical signal now corresponding to both analytes. The monochromators were tuned at 260 (excitation) and 415 (emission) nm, respectively. The calibration graph for salicylamide is linear over the range 0.01 to 0.32 μg mL^–1 and for salicylic acid from 0.04 to 1.0 μg mL^–1 in the presence of each other. The relative standard deviation and the sampling frequency for the determination of salicylamide (0.20 μg mL^–1) and salicylic acid (0.50 μg mL^–1) were 1.1% and 35 h^–1, and 0.9% and 45 h^–1, respectively. Good results on application to individual determination or mixture resolution in pharmaceutical samples testify to the usefulness of the proposed sensor. Received: 20 April 1999 / Revised: 7 June 1999 / Accepted: 12 June 1999     

Stabilization of antibodies by haptens

A new, sensitive and very simple spectrofluorimetric biparameter sensor is described for the determination of salicylamide and/or salicylic acid in pharmaceutical preparations. The method integrates the transitory retention and fluorescence detection of both compounds on Sephadex QAE A-25 resin packed into a conventional flow-through cell. A monochannel manifold with two alternative carriers is used. At pH 2.0 (first carrier) salicylic acid is selectively retained on the solid support and after developing the analytical signal it is desorbed. At pH 11.0 (second carrier) both salicylic acid and salicylamide are simultaneously and transitorily retained on the solid, the analytical signal now corresponding to both analytes. The monochromators were tuned at 260 (excitation) and 415 (emission) nm, respectively. The calibration graph for salicylamide is linear over the range 0.01 to 0.32 μg mL^–1 and for salicylic acid from 0.04 to 1.0 μg mL^–1 in the presence of each other. The relative standard deviation and the sampling frequency for the determination of salicylamide (0.20 μg mL^–1) and salicylic acid (0.50 μg mL^–1) were 1.1% and 35 h^–1, and 0.9% and 45 h^–1, respectively. Good results on application to individual determination or mixture resolution in pharmaceutical samples testify to the usefulness of the proposed sensor. Received: 20 April 1999 / Revised: 7 June 1999 / Accepted: 12 June 1999     

Thermal behavior of drugs

Data on the thermal stability of drugs was required to obtain information for handling, storage, shelf life and usage. In this study, the thermal stability of two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and simultaneous thermogravimetery/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) techniques. The results of TG analysis revealed that the main thermal degradation for the naproxen and celecoxib occurs in the temperature ranges of 196–300 and 245–359 °C, respectively. The TG/DTA analysis of compounds indicates that naproxen melts (at about 158.1 °C) before it decomposes. However, the thermal decomposition of the celecoxib started about 185 °C after its melting. The influence of the heating rate (5, 10, 15, and 20 °C min⁻¹) on the DSC behavior of the both drug samples was verified. The results showed that, as the heating rate was increased, decomposition temperatures of the compounds were increased. Also, the kinetic parameters such as activation energy and frequency factor for the compounds were obtained from the DSC data by non-isothermal methods proposed by ASTM E696 and Ozawa. Based on the values of activation energy obtained by various methods, the following order for the thermal stability was noticed: naproxen > celecoxib. Finally, the values of ΔS ^#, ΔH ^#, and ΔG ^# of their decomposition reaction were calculated.     

Sensitive and selective determination of metabolically formed trans-dihydrodiols and phenols of benzo[a]pyrene in water and urine samples by HPLC with amperometric detection

A method has been developed to separate hydroxylated metabolites of the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene, i. e. trans-4,5-, 7,8-, 9,10-dihydrodiol and 1-, 3-, 7-, and 9-phenol, by HPLC with amperometric detection employing an isocratic methanol/water eluent (70:30, v/v) containing 0.5 g/L sulfuric acid and 1 g/L lithium perchlorate. Compared with the usually applied fluorescence (λ_ex = 265 nm, λ_em = 460 nm) and ultraviolet (λ = 265 nm) detection, the amperometric technique is about 2–12 times more sensitive for the determination of all metabolites investigated. The method was applied to the determination of the seven metabolites of benzo[a]pyrene in different water samples and in urine after solid-phase extraction (SPE). The results obtained by HPLC with amperometric detection after SPE enrichment from an aqueous extract of a soil sample and from the urine of a rat intragastrically treated with benzo[a]pyrene agreed well with the values determined with fluorescence and/or UV detection. Received: 20 December 1996 / Revised: 10 March 1997 / Accepted: 30 April 1997     

Optimisation and validation of liquid chromatographic and partial least-squares-1 methods for simultaneous determination of enalapril maleate and nitrendipine in pharmaceutical preparations

Simultaneous determination of enalapril maleate (ENA) and nitrendipine (NIT) in pharmaceutical preparations was performed using liquid chromatography (LC) and the partial least-squares-1 (PLS-1) method. In LC, the separation was achieved on a C8 column and the optimum mobile phase for good separation in a gradient elution programme was found to be acetonitrile-water (φ _r = 81: 19) and optimum flow-rate, temperature, injection volume, and detection wavelength were set at 1.0 mL min⁻¹, 25°C, 10 μL, and 210 nm, respectively. Dienogest was selected as an internal standard. In the spectrophotometry, a PLS-1 chemometric method was used. The absorbance data matrix related to the concentration data matrix was established by measurement of absorbances in their zero order spectra with an increment of Δλ = 1 nm in the 220–290 nm range for ENA and with Δλ = 1 nm in the 230–290 nm range for NIT in the PLS-1 method. Following this step, calibration was established by using this data matrix to predict the unknown concentrations of ENA and NIT in their binary mixture. These optimised methods were validated and successfully applied to a pharmaceutical preparation in tablet form and the results were subjected to comparison.     

Rapid simultaneous determination of four anthracene derivatives using a single non-linear variable-angle synchronous fluorescence spectrum

A rapid, simple and inexpensive spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the simultaneous identification and quantification of anthracene (ANT), 9,10-dimethylanthracene (DIM), 2-aminoanthracene (AMI) and dibenz[ah]anthracene (DIB). A well-resolved spectrum for the mixture of these four compounds is obtained based on a single non-linear variable-angle synchronous scanning. The linear concentration ranges are 10–1000, 5–500, 50–1000 and 10–200 ng mL^–1 for ANT, DIM, AMI and DIB, respectively, at λ_ex/λ_em = 358/380, 399/408, 414/465 and 298/394 nm, respectively. The analyses are performed in cyclohexane. Recoveries of 90.0–111.0% in synthetic mixtures are obtained. The detection limits are 2.0 ng mL^–1 for DIM, 2.7 ng mL^–1 for ANT, 15.8 ng mL^–1 for AMI and 4.2 ng mL^–1 for DIB. The method has also been applied to several real water samples with satisfactory results. Received: 29 March 2000 / Revised: 30 June 2000 / Accepted: 4 July 2000     

Constant-wavelength synchronous spectrofluorimetry for determination of riboflavin in anchovies

Constant-wavelength synchronous spectrofluorimetry was used for the analysis of riboflavin in anchovies. Synchronous fluorescence spectra were recorded between 300 and 600 nm at a scan rate of 240 nm min^–1 and with excitation and emission slit-widths both set to 5 nm. The excitation-emission wavelength difference was 65 nm. The fluorescence was measured by peak-area base between 430–509 nm. Recovery was higher than 90.8%. Received: 22 December 1997 / Revised: 25 February 1998 / Accepted: 25 March 1998     

Determination of antimony in rain water at the nanogram level with surfactant and brilliant green

A new, simple, selective and sensitive method for the spectrophotometric determination of antimony in rain water is described. It includes preconcentrating Sb with surfactants (i.e. cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and Triton X-100 (TX-100)) into toluene and allowing the extract to react with a dye, i.e. brilliant green (BG). The value of apparent molar absorptivity is 5.55 × 10⁵ L-mol^–1· cm^–1 at λ_max = 620 nm; the detection limit is 3 ng/mL Sb in rain water at 3-fold preconcentration. Received: 6 June 1997 / Revised: 1 August 1997 / Accepted: 5 August 1997     

Simultaneous First Derivative Spectrophotometric Determination of Palladium and Nickel Using 2-(2-Thiazolylazo)-5-Dimethylaminobenzoic Acid as an Analytical Reagent

 A simple, rapid, selective, sensitive and economical method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of palladium and nickel in aqueous methanolic medium using 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-5-dimethylam inobenzoic acid as an analytical reagent by first derivative spectrophotometr y. Palladium is determined by measuring base to peak distance at λ=695.0 nm while nickel is estimated by zero crossing method in the mixture. The linearity is maintained between 0.12–1.75 μg mL⁻¹ for palladium and 0.07–1.60 μg mL⁻¹ for nickel in the pH range 2.8–7.2 and 3.4–8.8 respectively. Seven replicate determinations of 1.0 μ g mL⁻¹ of palladium and 0.8 μg mL⁻¹ of nickel in a mixture give a mean signal height of 0.391 for Pd and 0.541 for Ni with relative standard deviations of 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively. The sensitivity of the proposed method is 0.391 (dA/dλ)/(μg mL⁻¹) for palladium and 0.685 (dA/dλ)/(μg mL⁻¹) for nickel. Various parameters have been optimised for the simultaneous determination of palladium and nickel in various complex samples. Received March 30, 1999. Revision November 25, 1999.     

Studies on the interactions of a novel ruthenium(II) complex with G-quadruplex DNA

A novel ruthenium(II) porphyrin complex, [Ru(phen)₂MPyTPP] (phen = phenanthroline, MPyTPP = mono-(3′-Pyridine)-10,15,20-triphenyl porphyrin), has been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, ESI-MS and NMR methods. The interaction of the complex with G-quadruplex DNA has been studied by spectroscopy, and the results have shown that [Ru(phen)₂MPyTPP] can bind to G-quadruplex d(TTAGGG)₄ with high affinity. In the presence of d(TTAGGG)₄, the characteristic Soret and intra-ligand (IL) transitions in the UV–Vis spectrum of the complex exhibit hypochromism of 25% (Δλ = 6 nm) and 18% (Δλ = 1 nm), respectively. The intrinsic binding constant was calculated according to the decay of the Soret band as 3.02(±0.08) × 10⁶ M⁻¹. The positive signal of d(TTAGGG)₄ in its circular dichroism spectra was clearly decreased in the presence of the complex, indicating the conformation of the G-quadruplex was severely disturbed by the ruthenium(II) complex. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Spectrophotometric determination of trimethoprim by oxidation in drug formulations

A spectrophotometric determination of trimethoprim is described based on the reaction of its amine group with persulfate which acts as a strong oxidizing agent in alkaline media. The reaction produces a stable yellow colored compound after heating in a boiling water bath for 30 min. At λ_max 355 nm, Beer’s law is obeyed in the concentration range 10–60 μg ml^–1 with a molar absorptivity of 2.7 × 10³ l mol^–1cm^–1. The method is applied to formulations with sulfamethoxazole. Received: 30 July 1996 / Revised: 16 October 1996 / Accepted: 22 October 1996     

Photostimulated changes in WO3 nanosized films

During the irradiation of WO₃ films d = 7–160 nm thick by light at λ = 320 nm (I = (1.5–7) × 10¹⁵ quantum cm⁻² s⁻¹), absorption band at λ = 850 nm appeared along with absorption band edge shift to shorter waves. The subsequent irradiation of samples at λ = 850 nm caused the disappearance of the longwave absorption band. The intrinsic absorption edge of WO₃ films was determined (λ = 320 nm). The degree of transformations of WO₃ films increased under atmospheric conditions as the intensity of incident light and the time of irradiation (1–140 min) grew and as film thickness decreased. A mechanism of photochemical transformations of WO₃ films was suggested. This mechanism included the generation of electron-hole pairs, the recombination of part of nonequilibrium charge carriers, the formation of [eV_a²⁺e] centers, and the isolation of photolysis products.     

Thermodynamic and spectroscopic properties of mixtures of β-lactoglobulin and dioleylphosphatidylcholine

 The behavior of the single spreading monolayers of β-lacto-globulin (β-LG) and dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), as well as their mixtures, has been studied on subphases containing Na⁺ or Ca⁺⁺ ions. The results show an influence of temperature and subphase on the studied systems. The behavior of the areas as a function of the weight fraction of the two components shows significative and prevalently positive deviations from the additivity and their bidimensional miscibility. The variation of ΔG ^ex, ΔH ^ex and ΔS ^ex calculated for the DOPC–β-LG mixture having maximum deviation on two different supports allows to deduce that the interactions are prevalently repulsive. FTIR–ATR spectra of transferred plurilayers show that DOPC has a surface orientation which can originate the miscibility between the protein and DOPC. Received: 3 February 1997 Accepted: 3 June 1997     

Determination of Amoxycillin and Clavulanic Acid in Some Pharmaceutical Preparations by Derivative Spectrophotometry

 Derivative spectrophotometry was applied for the simultaneous determination of amoxycillin and clavulanic acid in pharmaceutical preparations: “Augmentin” inj. and tablets and “Amoksiklav” drops and tablets, in solutions after hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide. As the absorption spectra overlap strongly (amoxycillin λ_max = 247 nm and 290 nm, clavulanic acid λ_max = 258 nm) the first and the second derivative spectrophotometric procedure was elaborated for their determination. Amoxycillin was determined at λ = 257.9 nm (1-st derivative spectra) or λ = 273 nm (2-nd derivative) while clavulanic acid at λ = 280.3 nm (1-st derivative) or λ = 285 nm (2-nd derivative spectra). The Beer’s law is obeyed in the range of 0.004–0.04 mg/ml for amoxycillin and 0.002–0.02 mg/ml for clavulanic acid. Received December 6, 1999. Revision August 1, 2000.     

Thermogravimetric characteristics and kinetic of co-pyrolysis of olive residue with high density polyethylene

The co-pyrolytic behaviour of olive residue/high-desity polyethylene mixture was examined with a thermogravimetric analyser. The experiments were done over the temperature range of room temperature to 1273 K at various heating rates (2, 10, 20 and 50 K min⁻¹) and in a nitrogen atmosphere. The results indicated that mass loss process of mixture consists of three distinct stages and the increase of the heating rate shifts in the maximum rate loss to higher temperature. The difference of mass loss (Δm) between experimental and theoretical, calculated as algebraic sums of the mixture for different heating rates of 2, 10, 20 and 50 K min⁻¹, is about 7–11% at 740–900 K. These experimental results indicate a significant synergistic effect during co-pyrolysis of olive residue with high-density polyethylene. In addition, a kinetic analysis was performed to fit thermogravimetric data, the mixture is considered as multi-stage process. A reasonable fit to the experimental data was obtained for all materials and their mixture by isoconversional Friedman method.     

Micellization of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide in the presence of 9-anthryl alkanols

 Surface tension measure-ments in aqueous cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide were performed in presence of various amounts of 9-(hydroxymethyl)anthracene (AM), 9-[1-(1-hydroxy)ethyl]anthracene (THAE), and 9-[1-(1-hydroxy-2,2,2-trifluoro)ethyl]anthracene (TFAE). Free energies ΔG ^⊖ _m and ΔG ^⊖ _i of micellization and of adsorption to the air–water interface, respectively, were determined as well as the corresponding enthalpies and entropies. ΔG ^o− _m of micellization increased in the presence of AM and THAE, but became more negative when TFAE was added. In contrast to AM and THAE, TFAE addition decreases ΔS ^⊖ _i. For this peculiarity of TFAE, its location and orientation in micellar solution was investigated by means of UV and ¹⁹F-NMR spectroscopy. Received: 26 March 1997 Accepted: 16 May 1997     

Determination of titanium and zirconium wear debris in blood serum by means of HNO3/HF pressurized digestion using ICP – optical emission spectrometry

A ‘one bottle’ method to determine particulate debris of titanium and zirconium in blood serum was developed. Inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used to simultaneously detect both elements at concentrations above 50 ng/mL. Pressurized digestion by means of nitric and hydrofluoric acid in PTFE^TM-containers in a specific time-heat-pressure protocol apparatus was applied to assure complete solvation of particles including oxides. Total decomposition of the matrix was achieved and reasonable detection limits were accomplished. The amount of remaining carbon did not cause any matrix problems during measurement. Received: 10 October 1997 / Revised: 5 December 1997 / Accepted: 9 December 1997     

Determination of neodymium, holmium and erbium in mixed rare earths by norfloxacin

Norfloxacin (NFX) is proposed as reagent for the derivative spectrophotometric determination of neodymium, holmium and erbium in mixed rare earths. The absorption spectra of 4f electron transitions of the systems of neodymium, holmium and erbium complexes with norfloxacin in presence of cetylpyridinium chloride were studied by normal and derivative spectra. The absorption bands found normally at 575 nm for neodymium, 450 nm for holmium and 523 nm for erbium were enhanced markedly. Using the second derivative spectrum, Beer’s Law is obeyed from 5.0 × 10^–5∼ 2.5 × 10^–4 mol dm^–3 for neodymium, holmium and erbium. The relative standard deviations are 1.0, 1.4 and 1.1% for 6.9 × 10^–5 mol dm^–3 of neodymium, 6.1 × 10^–5 mol dm^–3 of holmium and 6.0 × 10^–5 mol dm^–3 of erbium, respectively. A method for the direct determination of neodymium, holmium and erbium in mixtures of rare earth elements with good accuracy and selectivity, is described. Received: 18 December 1997 / Revised: 23 February 1998 / Accepted: 26 February 1998