Spectrofluorimetric determination of drugs containing active methylene group using N1-methyl nicotinamide chloride as a fluorigenic agent

A spectrofluorimetric method was described for the determination of drugs containing active methylene groups adjacent to carbonyl groups. The method was applied successfully to the determination of three life saving cardiovascular drugs, with narrow therapeutic indices: pentoxifylline (I), propafenone hydrochloride (II) and acebutolol hydrochloride (III), in laboratory-prepared mixtures, in commercial tablets and in plasma samples. The method involved the reaction of each of the tested drugs with N1-methyl nicotinamide chloride (NMNCl) in the presence of alkali, followed by addition of formic acid, where highly fluorescent reaction products were produced. The produced fluorescence were measured quantitatively at 472 nm (lambdaex 352 nm), 409 nm (lambdaex 310 nm) and 451 nm (lambdaex 266 nm) for (I), (II), and (III) respectively. The method was linear over concentration ranges of 10-1000 microg/ml , 0.2-12 microg/ml and 0.08-10 microg/ml in standard solutions for (I), (II), and (III) respectively. In spiked human plasma samples, calibration graphs were linear over concentration ranges of 20-1000 microg/ml, 0.2-15 microg/ml and 0.08-10 microg/ml for (I), (II), and (III) respectively. The method showed good accuracy, specificity and precision in both laboratory-prepared mixtures and spiked human plasma samples. The proposed method is simple, with low instrumentation requirements, suitable for quality control application, bioavailability and bioequivalency studies.