Spectrophotometric determination of magnesium in pharmaceutical preparations by cost-effective sequential injection analysis

A simple and rapid, inexpensive spectrophotometric method was proposed for magnesium assay in pharmaceutical preparations by sequential injection analysis (SIA). The method is based on the reaction between o-cresolphthalein complexone (CPC) and Mg(II) in alkaline media, yielding a pink colored complex with absorption maximum at 570 nm. Since the formation constant between Ca-CPC and Mg-CPC is similar, initially a sample/standard solution was aspirated into the holding coil followed by a mixture of masking-buffer solutions. This was done because masking of calcium should be accomplished before Mg-CPC complexation. Then the reagent was introduced into the reaction coil to produce a colored complex, which is measured spectrophotometrically at 570 nm. In this way the interference of calcium was reduced. Furthermore, all the parameters that affect the reaction were evaluated. The calibration curve is linear over a range of 0-20 mg l⁻¹ of Mg(II) with a detection limit of 0.24 mg l⁻¹. A sample throughput of 80 samples per hour and relative standard deviation <2.0% were achieved. The proposed method was successfully applied for the assay of magnesium in three different compositions of pharmaceutical preparations (tablets). The results were found to be in good agreement with the manual flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) and UV-Vis spectrophotometry methods and with the claimed values by the manufactures. The t-test shows no significant difference at 95% confidence level.