Simultaneous determination of levofloxacin hemihydrate and ambroxol hydrochloride in tablets by thin-layer chromatography combined with densitometry

This paper describes the application of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) combined with densitometry to simultaneous determination of levofloxacin hemihydrate (LEV) and ambroxol hydrochloride (AMB) in bulk and tablets. The separation was achieved on aluminum sheet of silica gel 60 F ₂₅₄ using chloroform: methanol: toluene: ammonia (10: 6: 3: 0.8 v/v/v/v) as mobile phase. Quantification was carried out densitometrically at 245 nm. This system was found to give compact spots for LEV (R _f value of 0.4) and AMB (R _f value of 0.7). The calibration curves for LEV and AMB was found to be linear between 9960–16600 ng/spot (r ² = 0.999) and 600–1000 ng/spot (r ² = 0.999), respectively. The mean percentage recoveries from tablets for LEV and AMB were 99.45% and 99.58%, respectively. The TLC-densitometry method has many advantages, such as simplicity, reasonable sensitivity, rapidity, and low cost, and it can be successfully used in routine analysis of both these drugs in tablet formulations.