UV partial least-squares calibration and liquid chromatographic methods for direct quantitation of levofloxacin in urine

Levofloxacin was determined in human urine samples by application of a spectrophotometric multivariate calibration partial least-squares (PLS-1) method. A calibration set consisting of standards was prepared by using a multilevel multifactor experimental design. In order to ensure accurate results, the calibration matrix included a urine sample free of levofloxacin (i.e., urine blank). The components of the calibration matrix were levofloxacin and urine. The concentration of levofloxacin ranged from 0.5 to 16.5 microg/mL. Different urine concentrations were used as the second component of the calibration matrix in order to include the information inherent in the changes in the UV spectrum for urine upon dilution. In addition, a high-performance liquid chromatographic method was proposed. In this method, a Shim-pack amino column was used at ambient temperature with a mobile phase of 25 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH adjusted to 3.1 with phosphoric acid)-acetonitrile (70 + 30, v/v), and the flow rate was 1 mL/min. UV detection at 293 nm was used for quantitation. The proposed methods were applied to the determination of the dissolution rate for tablets containing levofloxacin. The urinary excretion pattern for the cumulative amount of levoflacin excreted was also calculated.     

Simultaneous determination of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) ions with carminic acid by the partial least squares (PLS-1 and PLS-2) methods

Two multivariate calibration methods, partial least squares types 1 and 2 (PLS-1 and PLS-2) have been applied to the simultaneous determination of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions as complexes with carminic acid by visible absorption spectrophotometry. The results obtained by application of different chemometric approaches are discussed. No significant advantages were found between the methods. The proposed methods were applied satisfactorily to the determination of these ions in synthetic solutions simulating sulfuric acid leach solutions obtained from uranium-thorium ores.     

Stable and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of N5-methyltetrahydrofolate, leucovorin, methotrexate and 7-hydroxymethotrexate in biological fluids

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of N5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid, leucovorin, methotrexate and 7-hydroxymethotrexate in plasma and liquor samples is presented. Gradient elution is used to increase the sensitivity. Four sample preparation methods were compared with respect to the stability of the injectable sample. Samples can be pretreated with a simple deproteinization method. For enhanced selectivity a solid-phase extraction procedure is described.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Fe(III), Al(III) and Cu(II) by partial least-squares calibration method

A spectrophotometric method for simultaneous determination of Fe(III), Al(III) and Cu(II) using Alizarin Red S as a chelating agent was developed. The parameters controlling behavior of the system were investigated and optimum conditions were selected. A partial least-squares multivariate calibration method was used for the analysis of ternary mixtures of Fe(III), Al(III) and Cu(II) over the range of 450-6000, 140-4000 and 450-15000 ng ml(-1), respectively. Absorbance data were taken between 400 and 800 nm. Applying this method to simultaneous determination of these metal ions in several synthetic alloy solutions with total relative standard error of less than 5% validated the proposed method.     

Stopped-flow fluorimetric determination of amoxycillin and clavulanic acid by partial least-squares multivariate calibration

Mixtures of amoxycillin and clavulanic acid were determined by using kinetic data in combination with partial least-squares multivariate calibration. The reaction of oxidation of these compounds with cerium(IV) in sulfuric acid medium has been monitored fluorimetrically. To follow the kinetics of the reaction, the stopped-flow mixing technique was used. Partial least-squares calibration of the kinetic data allowed the resolution of the analytes investigated in the concentration ranges between 0 and 4 mugml(-1). The method was applied satisfactorily to several pharmaceutical formulations, including Clavucid, Augmentine, Pangamox, Eupeclanic and Clamoxyl. The results obtained were validated by using an HPLC method. The percentages of recovery range from 91 to 105% for amoxycillin and from 78 to 117% for clavulanic acid, respectively.     

UV-spectrophotometric determination of ketoprofen and paraben in a gel preparation by partial least-squares calibration

Partial least-squares calibration was used for the simultaneous UV spectrophotometric determination of the active principle (ketoprofen) and preservative (parabens) in a pharmaceutical preparation commercially available in gel form. Calibration mixtures were prepared by mixing pure solutions of the analytes. The analytes were extracted and the UV spectrum of the resulting dispersion was recorded. Suppression of the effect of undissolved gel components was accomplished by prior centrifugation, using first and second-derivative spectra, introducing artificial baseline changes and adding the turbidity effect on the sample spectrum to some of the spectra in the calibration matrix. Both the second-derivative and the addition of the turbidity effect allow the quantification of non-centrifuged samples, the last one seems to be a little more effective. The results thus obtained are compared with those provided by HPLC following centrifugation of the samples.     

Simultaneous determination of acetaminophen and caffeine in tablet preparations by partial least-squares multivariate spectrophotometric calibration

The use of partial least-squares spectrophotometric calibration for the simultaneous determination of analgesic tablets in a multicomponent formulation is presented. This method is applied to the determination of acetaminophen and caffeine in tablet preparations. The results show that these components in a molar ratio of about 21:1 in tablets have been determined simultaneously with high precision.     

Synchronous fluorimetric determination of salicylic acid and diflunisal in human serum using partial least-squares calibration

The simultaneous determination of salicylic acid and diflunisal in human serum has been accomplished by synchronous fluorimetry, in combination with partial least-squares multivariate calibration. The total luminescence information of the analytes has been used to optimize the spectral data set for the calibration, by analysis of the three-dimensional excitation-emission matrices. The synchronous spectrum, maintaining a constant difference of Deltalambda = 128 nm between the emission and excitation wavelengths, has been selected as optimum to perform the determination. The method is based on the fluorescence of these compounds in chloroform containing 1% (v/v) acetic acid. Serum samples are treated with trichloroacetic acid to remove the proteins, and both analytes are extracted into chloroform-1% (v/v) acetic acid prior to the determination. For concentrations ranging from 60-240 mug ml(-1) of each drug, analytical recoveries range from 96% to 103% for salicylic acid and from 97% to 105% for diflunisal.     

Simultaneous determination of naproxen, salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic acid by spectrofluorimetry using partial least-squares (PLS) multivariate calibration

Determination of naproxen, salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic acid has been carried out in mixtures of up to three components by recording emission fluorescence spectra between 300 and 520 nm with an excitation wavelength of 290 nm. The excitation-emission spectra of these compounds are strongly overlapped, which does not permit their direct determination without previous separation by conventional methodologies. Here, a method is proposed for the determination of these chemicals by the use of a full-spectrum multivariate calibration method, partial least-squares (PLS). The experimental calibration matrix was designed with 18 samples. The concentrations were varied between 0.1 and 1.0 mug ml(-1) for naproxen, 0.5 and 5.0 mug ml(-1) for salicylic acid and from 2.0 to 12.0 mug ml(-1) for acetylsalicylic acid. The cross-validation method was used to select the number of factors. To check the accuracy of the proposed method, the optimized model, obtained using PLS-1, was applied to the determination of these compounds in pharmaceuticals and human serum samples previously spiked with different amounts of each chemical.     

Solid-phase spectrofluorimetric determination of acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations using partial least-squares multivariate calibration

PLS-1, a variant of the partial least-squares algorithm was used for the solid-phase spectrofluorimetric determination of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and caffeine (CF) in pharmaceutical formulations. The method allows the simultaneous quantification of the analytes, as the closely overlapping spectral bands are efficiently solved. Sample preparation prior to analysis is not required. The calibration set consisted of 83 samples with 50-170 mg g⁻¹ ASA plus 5-20 mg g⁻¹ CF; another set of 25 samples was used for external validation. Agreement between predicted and experimental concentrations was fair (r = 0.987 and 0.974 for ASA and CF models). For both models, the prediction performance was evaluated in terms of the coefficient of variability (CV), relative predictive determination (RPD), and ratio error range (RER). The final PLS-1 models were used for the determination of ASA and CF in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Fast spectrophotometric determination of fluoride in ground waters by flow injection using partial least-squares calibration

The presence of sulphate constitutes a serious interference in the usual zirconium lake-based spectrophotometric method for the determination of fluoride in water. In this report, full spectral data have been recorded for the zirconium lake of 2-(parasulfophenylazo)-1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-naphthalene-disulfonate (SPADNS) in the simultaneous presence of fluoride and sulphate, as obtained with a flow injection system with a diode-array detector. The information has been processed with partial least-squares (PLS) multivariate calibration. Adequate modeling using a sixteen-sample calibration set allows fluoride to be determined in ground waters by the automated flow injection method, even in the presence of sulphate in concentrations up to 1000 mg l⁻¹. In the calibration range 0-1.50 mg l⁻¹ for fluoride, the limit of detection is 0.1 mg l⁻¹. The fluoride contents in real samples, as determined with the present method, were satisfactorily compared with those provided by ion selective potentiometry.     

Application of partial least-squares calibration to phosphorimetric data for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in spiked environmental samples

A partial least-squares calibration method is proposed, for the first time, for phosphorescence signals. The proposed method is based on the determination of phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and benz[a]anthracene by room temperature phosphorimetry, using microemulsion solutions. The emission and first-derivative emission spectra of the ternary mixtures were tested to perform the calibration matrix. Improved recoveries were found for the prior differentiation step in the analysis of ternary mixtures of these polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in road dust samples. The proposed method yielded recoveries ranging from 93.2 to 115.3%, with relative standard deviations of < 6.8%.     

Simultaneous determination of five different food proteins by high-performance liquid chromatography and partial least-squares multivariate calibration

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of food proteins originating from different raw food materials. The proteins are hydrolysed to amino acids which are labelled with dansyl chloride and finally separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Partial least-squares multivariate calibration is used to resolve and quantify the overlapping amino-acid patterns. The method enables muscle protein, collagen, soy protein (both texturate and isolate), casein and milk protein to be quantified in both heated and raw samples from the same calibration set. The accuracies for the raw and heated samples averaged 3% and 6% relative total protein content, respectively.     

A flow-through fluorimetric sensing device for determination of alpha- and beta-naphthol mixtures using a partial least-squares multivariate calibration approach

A single flow-through optosensor spectrofluorimetric system is proposed for the resolution of mixtures of alpha- and beta-naphthol at mug l(-1) levels using a partial least-squares (PLS) calibration approach. The sensor was developed in conjunction with a monochannel flow-injection analysis system with fluorimetric detection using Sephadex QAE A-25 resin as an active sorbent substrate in the flow cell and the second derivative of the native synchronous fluorescence spectra of analytes as analytical signal. In the manifold, the solutions of naphthol (at pH 10.0) were injected in a carrier stream of KCl (0.15 M)/NaOH (10(-2) M). Because of the strong spectral overlap, the mixture could not be resolved by conventional spectrofluorimetry. The non-additive behaviour of the fluorescence signals revealed an interaction in the system, which was not found by working in the solution only (without the sorbent support). This interaction, probably due to the environment of the analytes on the solid phase, made impossible their simultaneous determination. So, the use of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy or even its derivative signal could not resolve satisfactorily the mixture. The simultaneous determination of both naphthol has been carried out by recording the signal of the second-derivative synchronous fluorescence (Deltalambda=170 nm) spectra between 200 and 450 nm and a PLS multivariate calibration treatment. The optimum number of factors was selected by using the cross-validation method. After validating the proposed method, it was applied to the determination of these compounds in natural waters with different amounts of each chemical.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of La, Ho, Mn 5-Br-PADAP complexes using multivariate calibration with partial least-squares (PLS) data evaluation

A simple and fast analytical pocedure is proposed for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of lanthanum, holmium and manganese in synthetic ceramics, (La(0.8-x) Hox Sr0.2 MnO3), by using the partial least-squares (PLS) method. As chromogenic agent 5-Br-PADAP [2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol] was used, which form colored complexes with the three elements studied. To avoid metal hydrolysis, a mixture of ethanol and Triton X-100 at pH 9.5 was used for all experiments. A set of 17 calibration solutions measured throughout the 400-700 nm wavelength range was used in the calibration step. The concentration range for Mn(II) was 1-12 x 10(-6) mol L-1, while the range for the rare earth elements La(III) and Ho(III) was 2-8 x 10(-6) mol L-1. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, a set of artificial samples containing the three analytes in variable proportions was prepared and analyzed. The analytical results obtained were quite acceptable with relative errors not greater than 7% in most cases.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of La, Ho, Mn 5-Br-PADAP complexes using multivariate calibration with partial least-squares (PLS) data evaluation

A simple and fast analytical pocedure is proposed for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of lanthanum, holmium and manganese in synthetic ceramics, (La_(0.8–x) Ho_x Sr_0.2 MnO₃), by using the partial least-squares (PLS) method. As chromogenic agent 5-Br-PADAP [2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol] was used, which form colored complexes with the three elements studied. To avoid metal hydrolysis, a mixture ¶of ethanol and Triton X-100 at pH 9.5 was used for all ¶experiments. A set of 17 calibration solutions measured throughout the 400–700 nm wavelength range was used in the calibration step. The concentration range for Mn(II) was 1–12 × 10^–6 mol L^–1, while the range for the rare earth elements La(III) and Ho(III) was 2–8 × 10^–6 mol L^–1. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, a set of artificial samples containing the three analytes in variable proportions was prepared and analyzed. The analytical results obtained were quite acceptable with relative errors not greater than 7% in most cases.     

Simultaneous determination of Al(III) and Fe(III) in post-hemodialysis fluids by spectrophotometry and multivariate calibration

A multivariate calibration model (PLS) was developed for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Al(III) and Fe(III) in post-hemodialysis fluids with pyrocathecol violet (PCV) as chromogenic reagent. The analytes build stable complexes with PCV in presence of hexamine buffered medium at pH 6.1. The complexes show overlapped absorption bands in the spectral range of 220-800 nm so that absorptions of 580 wavelengths were necessary for the calibrations. Determinations of Al(III) and Fe(III) were done without masking agents. The best calibration model was obtained by using PLS-1 regression with three components after data mean centering. The spectrophotometric method applied to assay the analytes in real post-hemodialysis samples containing no desferrioxamine B presented good agreement with voltammetric measurements used as reference. Concentrations ranging from 0.20 to 0.60 mg L⁻¹ for Al(III) and for Fe(III) were determined in real samples. The multivariate detection limits for Al(III) and Fe(III) were 0.044 and 0.052 mg L⁻¹, respectively, and the calculated values of sensitivity were 6.33 for Al(III) and 3.44 for Fe(III). The proposed method showed to be straightforward and useful to follow the hemodialysis progress for patients under treatment. Interferents were also investigated.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of carbaryl and 1-naphthol in biological fluids

A simple and sensitive method for the simultaneous analysis of carbaryl and 1-naphthol in whole blood by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection is described. Spiked blood (heparinized) containing an internal standard was hemolyzed and extracted with ethyl acetate. After centrifugation the extractant was removed and taken to dryness. Reconstitution and subsequent high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence analysis yielded linear standard curves for carbaryl and 1-naphthol. Linear response vs. concentration profiles were obtained for carbaryl and 1-naphthol extracted from buffer solutions as well. A simple chemical hydrolysis study of carbaryl is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the extraction procedure and assay.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of drugs in pharmaceutical preparations using multiple linear regression and partial least-squares regression, calibration and prediction methods

Two new methods for the simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen and caffeine based on total absorbance measurements and their processing by multiple linear regession and partial least-squares regression are proposed. The concentration ranges used to construct the calibration matrix were 4.0-12.0, 2.0-10.0 and 0.9-6.0 μg ml⁻¹ for acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen and caffeine respectively. The proposed methods were validated by using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and subsequently applied to the determination of the three active principles in three different pharmaceutical preparations.