Determination of pentoxifylline in pharmaceutical formulations using iodine as oxidizing agent

Simple, selective and sensitive spectrophotometric methods are described for the determination of pentoxifylline, based on the haloform reaction with a known and excess of standard iodine solution under alkaline conditions. The excess of iodine is determined at pH 3.0 with metol–isoniazid (λ_max=620 nm; method A) or wool fast blue BL (λ_max=540 nm, method B). All the variables have been optimised and the reaction mechanisms presented. Regression analysis of Beer's law plots showed good correlation in the concentration ranges 4.0–24.0 and 0.4–2.4 mg ml⁻¹ for methods A and B respectively. No interferences were observed from excipients and the validity of the methods was tested by analysing pharmaceutical formulations. Recoveries were 99.0–100.0%. The concentration measurements were reproducible within a relative standard deviation of 1.0%.