Electrochemical study and flow injection analysis of paracetamol in pharmaceutical formulations based on screen-printed electrodes and carbon nanotubes

Acetaminophenol or paracetamol is one of the most commonly used analgesics in pharmaceutical formulations. Acetaminophen is electroactive and voltammetric mechanistic studies for the electrode processes of the acetaminophenol/N-acetyl-p-quinoneimine redox system are presented. Carbon nanotubes modified screen-printed electrodes with enhanced electron transfer properties are used for the study of the electrochemical-chemical oxidation mechanism of paracetamol at pH 2.0.Quantitative analysis of paracetamol by using its oxidation process (in a Britton-Robinson buffer solution pH 10.0) at +0.20 V (vs. an Ag pseudoreference electrode) on an untreated screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) was carried out. Thus, a cyclic voltammetric based reproducible determination of acetaminophen (R.S.D., 2.2%) in the range 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ M to 1 × 10⁻³ M, was obtained. However, when SPCEs are used as amperometric detectors coupled to a flow injection analysis (FIA) system, the detection limit achieved for paracetamol was 1 × 10⁻⁷ M, one order of magnitude lower than that obtained by voltammetric analysis. The repeatability of the amperometric detection with the same SPCE is 2% for 15 successive injections of 10⁻⁵ M acetaminophen and do not present any memory effect.Finally, the applicability of using screen-printed carbon electrodes for the electrochemical detection of paracetamol (i.e. for quality control analysis) was demonstrated by using two commercial pharmaceutical products.     

Solid-phase reactors as high stability reagent sources in flow analysis: selective flow injection spectrophotometric determination of cysteine in pharmaceutical formulations

The flow injection spectrophotometric determination of cysteine was carried out by reaction with cobalt(II) ions entrapped in a polymeric material and filling a packed-bed reactor; the released cobalt(II) complexed with the amino acid was monitored at 360 nm. The method worked with a high repeatability, even with independent reactors, days and solutions. Selectivity of the procedure was tested with twenty different foreign compounds found in pharmaceutical formulations containing cysteine, parent amino acids included; no serious interferences were observed. The calibration graph for cysteine was linear over the range 1-90 micrograms ml-1 with a relative standard deviation of 0.8% at 60 micrograms ml-1 (n = 158). The calculated sample throughput was 90 h-1. The method was applied to determine the content of cysteine in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Determination of ceftriaxone sodium in pharmaceutical formulations by flow injection analysis with acid potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection.

Based on the chemiluminescence (CL) emission generated from the oxidation of ceftriaxone sodium alkali hydrolysate by potassium permanganate in polyphosphoric acid (PPA), a novel determination method for ceftriaxone sodium was developed by using a flow-injection technique. The calibration curve appears to be linear in the range between 0.05 and 100 microg mL(-1) with a detection limit (3sigma) of 25 ng mL(-1), and a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.6% for eleven replicate determinations of 5.0 microg mL(-1) ceftriaxone sodium. The proposed method has been successfully utilized for the determination of ceftriaxone sodium in pharmaceutical formulations, while the chemiluminescence reaction mechanisms were investigated.     

Electrochemical determination of prolintane in pharmaceutical formulations and in human urine

The oxidative behavior of 1-[1-(phenylmethyl)butyl]pyrrolidine, prolintane, was studied at a glassy carbon electrode using linear-sweep and differential-pulse voltammetry. The oxidation process was shown to be irreversible using 0.04 M Britton–Robinson buffer and was diffusion-adsorption controlled. Two voltammetric methods were developed for the determination of prolintane using different techniques: linear-sweep and differential-pulse voltammetry. The peak current varied linearly with prolintane concentrations in the range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ −2.5 × 10⁻⁴ M, with a detection limit of 8.5 × 10⁻⁶ and 4.0 × 10⁻⁶ M, and with relative standard deviations of 2.1 % and 3.1 %, respectively. The methods were applied to commercial preparations, giving relative errors less than 3.1 % and relative standard deviations lower than 4.8 % (n = 10). Determination of prolintane (down to the 8.5 × 10⁻⁸ M level) can be performed by using a preconcentration step prior to the determination by differential-pulse voltammetry in 0.04 M Britton–Robinson buffer (pH 8.0) with preconcentration potential of 0.0 V. The detection limit was found to be 6.2 × 10⁻⁸ M (4 min preconcentration) and the relative standard deviation for 2.5 × 10⁻⁷ M prolintane (n = 5) was 4.6 %. Applicability to human urine analysis is illustrated (recovery 98 ± 2 %). Standard additions method can be used to determine prolintane in real samples of urine.     

Electrochemical studies and square-wave voltammetric determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations

The electrochemical reduction of fenofibrate at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, square-wave voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. Different buffer solutions were used over a wide pH range (3.0–10.0). The best definition of the analytical signals was found in borate buffer (pH 9.0)–tetrabutylammonium iodide mixture containing 12.5% (v/v) methanol at –1.2 V (versus Ag/AgCl). According to cyclic voltammetric studies, the reduction was irreversible and diffusion controlled. The diffusion coefficient was 2.38×10^–6 cm² s^–1 as determined by chronoamperometry. Under optimized conditions of square-wave voltammetry, a linear relationship was obtained between 0.146–4.96 g mL^–1 of fenofibrate with a limit of detection of 0.025 g mL^–1. Validation parameters such as sensitivity, accuracy, precision, and recovery were evaluated. The proposed method was applied to the determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations. The results were compared with those obtained by a published high-performance liquid chromatography method. No difference was found statistically.     

Fluorimetric determination of aminocaproic acid in pharmaceutical formulations using a sequential injection analysis system

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) methodology for the fluorimetric determination of aminocaproic acid in pharmaceutical formulations is proposed. The developed analytical procedure is based on the derivatisation reaction of the aminocaproic primary amine with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and fluorimetric detection of the formed product (λ_ex = 350 nm; λ_em = 450 nm). The implementation of a SIA flow system allowed for the development of a simple, fast and versatile automated methodology, which exhibits evident advantages regarding the US Pharmacopoeia 24 (USP 24) reference procedure. By combining the SIA time-based sample insertion with a subsequent zone sampling approach, which permitted to select for detection of a well-defined sample zone, it was possible to implement an on-line dilution strategy that enabled the expansion of the analytical working range of the methodology, and thus its application in dissolution studies, without manifold re-configuration.Linear calibration plots were obtained for aminocaproic acid concentrations up to 6 × 10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹. The developed methodology exhibit a good precision, with a R.S.D. < 2.0% (n = 15) and the detection limit was 2.5 × 10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹. The obtained results complied with those furnished by the reference procedure with a relative deviation lower than 1.2%. No interference was found.     

Indirect chemiluminescence-based detection of mefenamic acid in pharmaceutical formulations by flow injection analysis and effect of gold nanocatalysts

A highly sensitive flow injection-chemiluminescence detection (FI-CL) method based on periodate oxidation of two popular luminescent compounds for the determination of mefenamic acid (MFA) is presented. The method is an indirect CL detection method based on the CL emission generated during the oxidation of Pyrogallol (Pg) or Luminol (Lu) with the excess of periodate that remains after oxidation of MFA within the time period of 15 min. The MFA calibration curves obtained with either luminescent compounds were linear over a wide concentration range, depending on the system employed, offering detection limits in the range of low to ultra-low μg L⁻¹ levels. Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were also assessed as means for enhancing the CL signal. Pg-periodate was not affected by the presence of gold nanocatalysts as opposed to Lu-periodate CL signal which exhibited a significant increase in the presence of citrate synthesized Au-NPs. The reproducibility of the method, expressed by the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), was very satisfactory and always below 5% as evidenced by repeated measurements (n ≥ 10) of standard solutions at two concentration levels (2 and 20 μg L⁻¹).     

Design and fabrication of a low-cost flow-through cell for the determination of acetaminophen in pharmaceutical formulations by flow injection cyclic voltammetry

A low-cost electrochemical flow-through cell is designed and fabricated to use in conjunction with a flow injection (FI) system. This detector cell used a centrosymmetric radial flow thin-layer geometry with a stainless steel auxiliary electrode and a reference electrode (Ag/AgCl) without a salt bridge. The 5H pencil lead electrode used as a working electrode in the home-made cell is an extremely inexpensive electrode which performs as well as the expensive commercial glassy carbon electrode. Optimum conditions for determining acetaminophen using the proposed FI manifold was investigated. Appropriate volume of sample and/or standard solution containing acetaminophen in pH 2.2 Mcllvaine buffer solution was injected into the proposed FI system and mixed with the flowing stream of supporting electrolyte (pH 2.2 Mcllvaine buffer solution) at an optimum flow rate of 1 ml min⁻¹. The cyclic voltammograms were recorded over the potential range from −0.5 to +2.0 V with a scan rate of 40 mV s⁻¹. Linear calibration curve over the range of 0.1–5 mM acetaminophen was established with the regression equation Y=3.68X+1.0157 (r²=0.9964). The recommended method has been applied to the determination of acetaminophen in 8 commercial pharmaceutical preparations. The percentage recoveries of the spiked acetaminophen in four tablet samples were ranging from 103 to 112 with the relative standard deviation in the range of 0.1–1.3%.     

The spectrophotometric determination of hydroperoxide and peroxide in a lipid pharmaceutical product by flow injection analysis

A sensitive, rapid and automatable flow injection analysis procedure is described for the determination of total hydroperoxides and peroxides in lipid products. All unsaturated lipids are susceptible to degradation by oxidation, and the quantification of these major oxidation products is an essential measure of lipid product stability. In this methodology a lipid emulsion is dispersed and injected into an acidic solution of propan-2-ol, which is then merged with iodide ion in situ in a two-stream manifold. The lipid hydroperoxide oxidises acidified iodide to iodine, which is detected spectrophotometrically at 350 nm. The closed conditions prevent interference from atmospheric oxygen and the short reaction time minimises interference from side reactions. Conditions were optimised, using experimental design, for a lipid product under development at GlaxoWellcome. A two-level half-fractional factorial design was applied to screen for the critical factors, followed by a multi-level central composite design to optimise these variables. The resulting method was fully validated and is linear down to 0.1 nmol ml-1. This approach should be applicable to other lipid formulations and offers significant advantages in terms of speed, automation and precision compared with existing manual procedures.     

Quantitative analysis of some preservatives in pharmaceutical formulations by different chromatographic methods

Different chromatographic methods for determination of methyl hydroxybenzoate and propyl hydroxybenzoate in pharmaceutical formulations are compared. Procedures for HPTLC, HPLC and GC/MS are given.     

Determination of lithium in pharmaceutical formulations used in the treatment of bipolar disorder by flow injection analysis with spectrophotometric detection

In this work, a flow injection system with spectrophotometric detection was developed for the determination of lithium in pharmaceutical formulations used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Reaction between Quinizarine (1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone) and Li(I) ion in alkaline medium containing dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was explored for this purpose. The flow system was optimized regarding to its chemical (DMSO, Quinizarine and NaOH concentrations and sample pH) and physical parameters (sample loop volume, carrier flow rate and reactor length) in order to establish better conditions in terms of sensitivity and sampling frequency. The results obtained showed that the concentration of DMSO in the reagent solution presents remarkable influence on the magnitude of analytical signal. Chemical species that could be found in the formulations such as Na(I), K(I), Mg(II), Ca(II), Ti(IV), Cl⁻, CO₃²⁻ e sodium dodecylsulfate were tested as possible interfering ions. Among them, only non-monovalent cations presented noticeable interference on lithium signal. However, they were not found in concentrations high enough to cause interference in the determination of lithium in the samples. Sample preparation was performed by sonicating a slurry prepared by dispersing 100 mg of powdered sample in 15 mL of 0.10 mol L⁻¹ HCl solution. Results obtained by developed methodology were not statistically different from those obtained by flame emission spectrometry. In the optimized conditions the method presented a linear range of 5-40 mg L⁻¹ and a relative standard deviation of 3.6% at 5 mg L⁻¹ Li concentration. Detection and quantification limits were 0.54 and 1.8 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Sampling frequency, calculated as the time interval passed between two consecutive injections, was 60 samples per hour. The methodology was successfully applied in the determination of lithium in three commercial samples.     

Sequential injection technique for determination of phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and metoclopramide in pharmaceutical formulations

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system is described for the determination of phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and metoclopramide using spectrophotometer as detector. The method is based on the detection of an unstable red intermediate compound resulting from the reaction of phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride or metoclopramide with the diazotizating product of p-phenylenediamine with sodium nitrite in hydrochloric acid medium. The sampling frequency is 69 h⁻¹ and 75 h⁻¹ for phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and metoclopramide, respectively. The linear range is 10–400 μg/mL for phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride with a detection limit of 0.081 μg/mL and 20–250 μg/mL for metoclopramide with a detection limit of 0.034 μg/mL. The RSD is 1.01 and 0.45% for phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and metoclopramide, respectively. The proposed methods were used to determine phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and metoclopramide in pharmaceuticals. The results are compared with those obtained by pharmacopoeia method. The article is published in the original.     

Determination of nicotinamide by stopped-flow injection method in pharmaceutical formulations

A simple stopped-flow injection system with spectrophotometric detection was proposed for the determination of nicotinamide (NAM) in pharmaceutical formulations. In this system cyanogen chloride formed from the combination of an acidic KSCN with the NaClO streams reacts with injected NAM to form glutaconic aldehyde. Then the product of these three components was coupled with another buffered (pH 3.5) stream of barbituric acid and directed towards the detector. A 45 s after sample injection the pump was stopped for 130 s. During this time the reactants in the flow cell were provided with the required temperature (40 °C) by placing the cell in a home made cell jacket to increase the yield of the polymethine dye product. Eventually, the absorbance of the formed pink color dye was monitored spectrophotometrically at 560 nm and NAM in the concentration range of 1.0–25.0 μg/mL (R = 0.9974 and D.L = 0.5 μg/mL) was determined. The results obtained by this method were compared statistically and agree with those obtained by the method described in the British Pharmacopoeia.     

流动注射化学发光法测定司帕沙星的研究

在酸性介质中,司帕沙星对NaNO2-H2O2发光体系有很强的增强作用,并且其增强化学发光强度与司帕沙星的物质的量浓度在一定范围内呈线性关系。基于此,采用流动注射技术,建立了一种简单、快速测定司帕沙星的方法。线性范围为1.0×10-7~8.5×10-4mol/L,检出限为6.5×10-8mol/L。利用该法测定了司帕沙星片剂中的司帕沙星,回收率在98.8%~104.4%之间。     

流动注射化学发光法测定那格列奈

在碱性介质中,那格列奈对Luminol-H2O2体系的化学发光有很强的抑制作用,据此建立了流动注射化学发光抑制法测定那格列奈的新方法.该法的化学发光抑制值△I与那格列奈的质量浓度在2.0×10-8～1.0×10-6 g/mL范围内,呈良好的线性关系,检出限为1.4×10-8 g/mL;对4.0×10-7 g/mL那格列奈连续进行11次平行测定,相对标准偏差为1.0%;通过对荧光光谱的研究,对机理进行了初步探讨.     

流动注射化学发光法测定佐米曲谱坦

在碱性条件下,佐米曲谱坦对鲁米诺-K3[Fe(CN)6]化学发光体系有较强的抑制作用,据此建立了佐米曲谱坦的流动注射化学发光分析法。该法的化学发光抑制值ΔI与佐米曲谱坦质量浓度在2.0×10-6~1.2×10-4g/mL范围内,呈良好的线性关系,检出限为7.6×10-7g/mL。对2.5×10-5g/mL佐米曲谱坦测定的相对标准偏差为1.2%(n=11)。方法适用于佐米曲谱坦片中佐米曲谱坦的测定。     

Simultaneous determination of hydroxylamine and cyanide in formulations containing pralidoxime salts by flow injection

A flow injection method is described for the simultaneous determination of cyanide and hydroxylamine which are known decomposition products of formulations containing pralidoxime salts used in the treatment of anticholinesterase poisoning. By using the diffusion of HCN from the carrier stream followed by amperometric detection, high selectivity and sensitivity and a wide dynamic range can be achieved. Hydroxylamine is determined by its oxidation with iodine to nitrite which can then be determined colorimetrically. The gas diffusion unit effectively acts as a stream splitter for the two analytes allowing their simultaneous determination from a single sample injection. The performance of the system and its applicability to thermally stressed pralidoxime solutions are described.     

流动注射化学发光法测定氨苄西林的研究

氨苄西林在NaOH溶液中降解后,其产物可在酸性条件下与KMnO4发生化学发光反应,甲醛的存在可使发光强度增强。据此,采用流动注射技术,建立了一种测定氨苄西林的化学发光分析法。方法的检出限为9.1×10-9g/mL,相对标准偏差为1.8%(n=11,ρ=3.4×10-6g/mL),线性范围为4.0×10-8~2.0×10-5g/mL。利用该法测定了氨苄西林胶囊中的氨苄西林,其回收率在87%~106%。     

Spectrophotometric determination of azathioprine in pharmaceutical formulations

Four simple and sensitive visible spectrophotometric methods (A–D) have been described for the assay of azathioprine (ATP) either in pure form or in pharmaceutical formulations. Methods A and B are based on the oxidation of ATP with excess N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) or chloramine-T (CAT) and determining the consumed NBS or CAT with a decrease in colour intensity of celestine blue (CB) (method A) or gallocyanine (GC) (method B), respectively. Methods C and D are based on the diazotisation of reduced azathioprine (RATP) with excess nitrous acid and estimating either the consumed nitrous acid (HNO₂) with cresyl fast violet acetate (CFVA) (method C) or by coupling reaction of the diazonium salt formed with N-1-naphthyl ethylene diamine dihydrochloride (NED) (method D). All of the variables have been optimized and the reactions presented. The concentration measurements are reproducible within a relative standard deviation of 1.0%. Recoveries are 99.2–100.3%.     

Spectrophotometric flow injection methods for zinc determination in pharmaceutical and biological samples.

Zinc ions form a yellow complex with di-2-pyridyl ketone salicyloylhydrazone (DPKSH). This complex showed maximum absorption at 376 nm, and it was used to develop spectrophotometric flow injection methods for Zn(II) determination in different samples. Two types of flow systems were proposed. In the first system, a linear analytical curve was obtained in a concentration range from 0.217 to 4.60 mg L(-1) Zn(II), with a detection limit of 48.8 microg L(-1). In the second system, a minicolumn packed with an anion exchanger resin was used to concentrate Zn(II) as a chlorocomplex, and a linear analytical curve within a concentration range from 0.0824 to 2.06 mg L(-1) Zn(II) was obtained, having a detection limit of 13.9 microg L(-1). The developed methods were applied to biological and pharmaceutical samples, and a great compliance was observed by comparing the results with ones obtained by an atomic absorption technique.