Simultaneous voltammetric determination of levodopa, carbidopa and benserazide in pharmaceuticals using multivariate calibration.

An analytical methodology based on differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) on a glassy carbon electrode and the partial least-squares (PLS-1) algorithm for the simultaneous determination of levodopa, carbidopa and benserazide in pharmaceutical formulations was developed and validated. Some sources of bi-linearity deviation for electrochemical data are discussed and analyzed. The multivariate model was developed as a ternary calibration model and it was built and validated with an independent set of drug mixtures in presence of excipients, according with manufacturer specifications. The proposed method was applied to both the assay and the uniformity content of two commercial formulations containing mixtures of levodopa-carbidopa (10:1) and levodopa-benserazide (4:1). The results were satisfactory and statistically comparable to those obtained by applying the reference Pharmacopoeia method based on high performance liquid chromatography. In conclusion, the methodology proposed based on DPV data processed with the PLS-1 algorithm was able to quantify simultaneously levodopa, carbidopa and benserazide in its pharmaceuticals formulations using a ternary calibration model for these drugs in presence of excipients. Furthermore, the model appears to be successful even in the presence of slight potential shifts in the processed data, which have been taken into account by the flexible chemometric PLS-1 approach.

Electrochemical behavior of atomoxetine and its voltammetric determination in capsules.

In this work, the electrochemical behavior and the analytical application of atomoxetine, a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, are studied. Atomoxetine, studied by differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry on a glassy carbon electrode, exhibited an anodic response in aqueous media with pH between 1.5 and 7. In non-aqueous medium (acetonitrile), the drug exhibited two irreversible oxidation peaks that are diffusion controlled. From chronocoulometric studies in acetonitrile, it was determined that each oxidation signal involves two and four electrons, respectively. For analytical purposes, a differential pulse voltammetry technique in 0.1 mol L(-1) perchloric acid was selected, which exhibited adequate figures of merit. The percent recovery was 96.6+/-1.2 and the detection and quantitation limits were 6.9 x 10(-5) and 1.0 x 10(-4) mol L(-1), respectively. Also, results indicate that excipients do not interfere with the oxidation signal of atomoxetine, which leads to the conclusion that the developed method is satisfactorily selective for atomoxetine quantification in pharmaceuticals with no prior separation or extraction necessary. Finally, the proposed voltammetric method was successfully applied to both the assay and the uniformity content of atomoxetine in capsules. For comparison, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis was also performed.

Electrochemical study and analytical applications for new biologically active 2-nitrophenylbenzimidazole derivatives.

The present study addresses the electrochemical behavior and the analytical applications of six 2-nitrophenylbenzimidazole derivatives with activity against Trypanosoma cruzi. When studied in a wide range of pH, by differential pulse polarography, tast polarography and cyclic voltammetry, these compounds exhibited two irreversible cathodic responses. With analytical purposes, the differential pulse polarography mode was selected, which exhibited adequate analytical parameters of repeatability, reproducibility and selectivity. The percentage of recovery was in all cases over 99%, and the detection and quantitation limits were at the level of 1 x 10(-7)mol L(-1) and 1 x 10(-6)mol L(-1), respectively. In addition, the differential pulse polarography method was successfully applied to study the hydrolytic degradation kinetic of one of the tested compounds. Activation energy, kinetic rate constants at different temperatures and half-life values of such application are reported.