Determination of 1,4-benzodiazepines in drug dosage forms by difference spectrophotometry

A spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of seven 1,4-benzodiazepines, namely: chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, nitrazepam, oxazepam, lorazepam, temazepam and cinolazepam. The method involves reduction of the target compounds using Zn/HCl and measuring the difference in the absorbance before and after reduction. The quantities of zinc and acid required for efficient reduction were carefully studied. 1–20 g ml^–1 of the compounds could be determined with < 1% error. The method was applied successfully to the determination of these compounds in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The results were sufficiently accurate and precise and comparable to those from the official methods.