Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of paracetamol, ibuprofen and caffeine in pharmaceuticals by chemometric methods

Development of a novel UPLC approach to co-prediction of four active compounds in a multi-component pharmaceutical preparation

In this work, a new ultra-performance liquid chromatography method based on photodiode array detection (UPLC-PDA) was first developed for the quantitative analysis of the quaternary mixture of ascorbic acid (AA), paracetamol (PAR), caffeine (CAF) and chlorpheniramine maleate (CPA) in a commercial dosage form. The developed UPLC-PDA method offered a new possibility for the co-determination of four active ingredients in a drug combination with short run time and simple sample preparation. The successful chromatographic separation of the four drugs was performed using a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (1.7 µm 2.1 × 100 mm) (Mildford, USA) and a mobile phase consisting of water (12 %), acetonitrile (13 %) and 0.1 M H3PO4 (75 %) at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. The validation of the proposed UPLC-PDA approach was verified by analyzing synthetic mixtures, inter- and intra-day experiments, and commercial powder samples and provided satisfactory results.

Smart green spectrophotometric assay of the ternary mixture of drotaverine, caffeine and paracetamol in their pharmaceutical dosage form

Three green and facile spectrophotometric methods were developed for the assay of Petro® components; drotaverine HCl (DRT), caffeine (CAFF), and paracetamol (PAR). The three methods depend on measuring the absorbance of the studied drugs through their ethanolic solution. The first derivative spectrophotometry (FDS) at (Δλ = 10) were good parameters for DRT and CAFF resolution; DRT and CAFF could be well calibrated using FDS at 320 and 285 nm, respectively. PAR could be estimated at 308 nm utilizing the second derivative spectrophotometry (SDS). Method II relies on the double divisor ratio derivative spectroscopy (DDRDS). The first derivative was applied on each drug where they would be assayed at 309, 288, and 255 nm for DRT, CAFF, and PAR, respectively. Method III depends on the mean centering (MCR) technique. DRT, CAFF, and PAR could be determined at 309, 214, and 248 nm, respectively. The concentrations were rectilinear in the ranges of 2-20 µg/mL for DRT, 1.5-15 µg/mL for CAFF, and 2-40 µg/mL for PAR in double devisor and mean centering but PAR from 5 to 40 µg/mL in derivative method. Method validation was performed according to ICH guidelines assured by the agreement with the comparison method. In addition, greenness assessment of the proposed methods was investigated. The application of the proposed method was extended to analyse tablet dosage form and performing invitro dissolution testing.

Toward the Non-Targeted Detection of Adulterated Virgin Olive Oil with Edible Oils via FTIR Spectroscopy & Chemometrics: Research Methodology Trends, Gaps and Future Perspectives

Fourier-Transform mid-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy offers a strong candidate screening tool for rapid, non-destructive and early detection of unauthorized virgin olive oil blends with other edible oils. Potential applications to the official anti-fraud control are supported by dozens of research articles with a "proof-of-concept" study approach through different chemometric workflows for comprehensive spectral analysis. It may also assist non-targeted authenticity testing, an emerging goal for modern food fraud inspection systems. Hence, FTIR-based methods need to be standardized and validated to be accepted by the olive industry and official regulators. Thus far, several literature reviews evaluated the competence of FTIR standalone or compared with other vibrational techniques only in view of the chemometric methodology, regardless of the inherent characteristics of the product spectra or the application scope. Regarding authenticity testing, every step of the methodology workflow, and not only the post-acquisition steps, need thorough validation. In this context, the present review investigates the progress in the research methodology on FTIR-based detection of virgin olive oil adulteration over a period of more than 25 years with the aim to capture the trends, identify gaps or misuses in the existing literature and highlight intriguing topics for future studies. An extensive search in Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar, combined with bibliometric analysis, helped to extract qualitative and quantitative information from publication sources. Our findings verified that intercomparison of literature results is often impossible; sampling design, FTIR spectral acquisition and performance evaluation are critical methodological issues that need more specific guidance and criteria for application to product authenticity testing.

Characteristics and growth kinetics of biomass of Citrobacter freundii strains PYI-2 and Citrobacter portucalensis strain YPI-2 during the biodegradation of Ibuprofen

Ibuprofen (IBU) is the third most commonly used analgesic drug in the world. It enters the water system as a result of human excretion-based wastewater discharges. Hence, it attracts the attention of environmentalists for its ecological fate and degradation behavior. In this study, the two IBU degrading bacterial strains, Citrobacter freundii strain PYI-2 (MT039504) and Citrobacter portucalensis strain YPI-2 (MN744335), were isolated from industrial wastewater samples using an enrichment culture method, identified, and characterized. Physiological and batch culture degradation studies have indicated that these strains involved in IBU degradation and the intermediates produced during the process were analyzed. These strains degrade IBU in the batch culture. The optimum pH was reported for degradation of the PYI2 strain (6.9) and YPI2 strain (5.8), and the optimum temperatures were 42°C and 32°C, respectively. Biomass kinetic analysis of these strains was performed based on physical parameters (temperature, pH, and rpm) and confirmed by the experimental study. As indicated in the GC-MS chromatogram peaks, viz., hydroxyibuprofen, 2-(4-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid), 1,4-hydroquinone, and 2-hydroxy-1,4-quinol various intermediates compounds of degradation pathway were observed. Finally, through the GC-MS data, the metabolic pathway for degradation was predicted. In the study, it was confirmed that Citrobacter freundii strain PYI-2 and Citrobacter portucalensis strain YPI-2 exhibit metabolic potential for the biodegradation of IBU and can be further deployed in bioremediation.

Simultaneous Determination of Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, and Caffeine in Tablets by Molecular Absorption Spectroscopy Combined with Classical Least Square Method

In this paper, the classical least-squares (CLS) method with molecular absorption spectrophotometric measurement was used to determine simultaneously paracetamol (PAR), ibuprofen (IBU), and caffeine (CAF) in tablets. The absorbance spectra of the standard solutions and samples were measured over a wavelength from 220 to 300 nm with a 0.5 nm step. The concentration of PAR, IBU, and CAF in the sample solutions was calculated by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and a program called CLS-Excel written in Microsoft Excel 2016. The method and the CLS-Excel program were tested on mixed standard laboratory samples with different PAR, IBU, and CAF concentration ratios, and they showed only small errors and a satisfying repeatability. An analytical procedure for tablets containing PAR, IBU, and CAF was developed. The reliability of the procedure was proved via the recovery and repeatability of the analysis results with an actual tablet sample and by comparing the mean contents of active substances in the tablets obtained from the analytical procedure with the HPLC method. The procedure is simple with a reduced cost compared with the HPLC standard method.

Full spectrum and genetic algorithm-selected spectrum-based chemometric methods for simultaneous determination of azilsartan medoxomil, chlorthalidone, and azilsartan: Development, validation, and application on commercial dosage form

Five various chemometric methods were established for the simultaneous determination of azilsartan medoxomil (AZM) and chlorthalidone in the presence of azilsartan which is the core impurity of AZM. The full spectrum-based chemometric techniques, namely partial least squares (PLS), principal component regression, and artificial neural networks (ANN), were among the applied methods. Besides, the ANN and PLS were the other two methods that were extended by genetic algorithm procedure (GA-PLS and GA-ANN) as a wavelength selection procedure. The models were developed by applying a multilevel multifactor experimental design. The predictive power of the suggested models was evaluated through a validation set containing nine mixtures with different ratios of the three analytes. For the analysis of Edarbyclor® tablets, all the proposed procedures were applied and the best results were achieved in the case of ANN, GA-ANN, and GA-PLS methods. The findings of the three methods were revealed as the quantitative tool for the analysis of the three components without any intrusion from the co-formulated excipient and without prior separation procedures. Moreover, the GA impact on strengthening the predictive power of ANN- and PLS-based models was also highlighted.

Chemometric assisted UV spectrophotometric and RP-HPLC methods for simultaneous determination of paracetamol, diphenhydramine, caffeine and phenylephrine in tablet dosage form

In this paper, Chemometric assisted UV spectrophotometric and RP-HPLC methods were developed and compared for simultaneous determination of Paracetamol, Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride, Caffeine and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride in tablet dosage form. UV-Spectrophotometric analysis was carried out by applying two chemometric models namely, Principal Component Regression method (PCR) and Partial Least Squares Regression method (PLSR). Chromatographic method was developed and optimized by applying Response surface methodology -Central Composite Design (CCD). These methods were considered first for the quantification of the drugs present in the selected formulation. PCR and PLSR models were successfully validated and applied for resolving the complex UV-spectra in the wavelength range of 240-320 nm with a data interval of 1 nm. In RP-HPLC method, the identified critical factors were methanol content (45-55% v/v) and flow rate (0.75-0.85 mL/min) and the selected responses were retention time (Rt₄) of fourth eluted component and resolution (RS_1,2) between first and second eluted components. Derringer's desirability function was used for the optimization of the chromatographic method conditions which comprised of mobile phase consisting of methanol‑potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate buffer (pH 3; 10 mM) (50: 50, v/v) and at a flow rate of 0.81 mL/min with a detection wavelength of 220 nm. One-way ANOVA in 95% confidence interval revealed that there were no significant differences among the developed methods.

A rapid analytical method for the quantitative determination of the sugar in acarbose fermentation by infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics

In this article, a rapid analytical method for the quantitative determination of the glucose and maltose in the industrial acarbose fermentation was established by the combination application of infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics. The spectra of the 398 acarbose samples were collected by a portable infrared fast analyzer and the concentration of the glucose and maltose in the acarbose fermentation solution were determinate by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as the referent database. Four spectral pretreatment methods, first derivative (FD), second derivative (SD), Savitzky-Golay (SG) convolution smoothing and mean center (MC) were employed to eliminate the optical interference from background and other noise information. The best result was obtained with FD+SG(21, 3)+MC method. The effects of different principal component numbers (PCs) on the parameters were also optimized. Two models of PLS and MLR, were used to predict the concentration of the glucose and maltose. The FD+SG(21, 3)+MC method was chosen as best method, with 12 PCs for glucose and 11 for maltose as optimized parameters. The PLS model was significantly better than the MLR model. Furthermore, both the predicted values and the reference values of glucose and maltose models showed superior linear relationship within the calibration range. The absolute errors of the predicted values and their corresponding reference values of glucose and maltose in the PLS model were within ±0.14 and ±0.35 confidence intervals, respectively. The prediction correct rate was 98.3%, which indicated that the prediction results of model were excellent.

Facile caffeine electrochemical detection via electrodeposited Ag nanoparticles with modifier polymers on carbon paste sensor at aqueous and micellar media

The analysis and detection of caffeine (Caf) is very useful due to its widespread usage in several daily consumed beverages, food products, and pharmacological preparations with various physiological effects. The preparation of a newly electrodeposited Ag nanoparticles – cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) – chitosan (Chit) modified carbon paste (ACCMCP) sensor for sensitive determination of Caf in 0.01 mol L−1 H3PO4 solution (pH 1.0–5.0) both in aqueous and micellar media (0.5 mmol L−1 SDS) was achieved. The interaction of Caf was monitored using electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry, and surface characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray techniques. The linear detection range of Caf was between 4 and 500 μmol L−1 (r2 = 0.955) and the limit of detection obtained from the calibration plot was 0.252 μmol L−1. The sensor was applicable for detecting Caf in numerous real samples with recoveries from 98.03% to 101.60% without interference of any accompanying species, which ensures high method selectivity.

RP-HPLC and UV Spectrophotometric Analysis of Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, and Caffeine in Solid Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms by Derivative, Fourier, and Wavelet Transforms: A Comparison Study

Different signal-transforming algorithms were applied for UV spectrophotometric analysis of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and caffeine in ternary mixtures. Phosphate buffer pH 7.2 was used as the spectrophotometric solvent. Severe overlapping spectra could be resolved into individual bands in the range of wavelengths 200-300 nm by using Savitzky-Golay smoothing and differentiation, trigonometric Fourier series, and mother wavelet functions (i.e., sym6, haar, coif3, and mexh). To optimize spectral recoveries, the concentration of various types of divisors (single, double, and successive) was tested. The developed spectrophotometric methods showed linearity over the ranges 20-40 mg/L for paracetamol, 12-32 mg/L for ibuprofen, and 1-3.5 mg/L for caffeine (R ² > 0.990). They could be successfully applied to the assay and dissolution test of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and caffeine in their combined tablets and capsules, with accuracy (99.1-101.5% recovery) and precision (RSD < 2%). For comparison, an isocratic RP-HPLC analysis was also developed and validated on an Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse XDB-C18 (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at an ambient temperature. A mixture of methanol : phosphate buffer 0.01 M pH 3 (30 : 70 v/v) was used as the mobile phase delivered at 2 mL/min, and the effluent was monitored at 225 nm. It was shown that spectrophotometric data were statistically comparable to HPLC (p > 0.05), suggesting possible interchange between UV spectrophotometric and HPLC methods for routine analysis of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and caffeine in their solid pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Simultaneous estimation of amlodipine and atorvastatin by micelle-augmented first derivative synchronous spectrofluorimetry and multivariate analysis

Five Selective, rapid and sensitive spectrofluorimetric methods were performed in this study for the simultaneous estimation of amlodipine besylate (AML) and atorvastatin (ATR) in their binary mixtures and combination polypills that are used for management of cardiovascular conditions. The first method depends on micelle-enhanced first derivative synchronous fluorimetric analysis (method I) and the other four methods are multivariate analysis techniques based on the use of factor-based calibration prediction methods comprising partial least squares (PLS), Principal Component Regression (PCR), genetic algorithm PLS (GA-PLS) and genetic algorithm PCR (GA-PCR). The synchronous fluorescence spectra of the solutions were measured at a constant wavelength difference; Δλ = 100 nm. The magnitudes of the peaks of the first derivative spectra (1D) were measured at 292 nm and 387 nm for ATR, and AML correspondingly. The multivariate models were constructed utilizing fifteen mixtures as a calibration set and ten mixtures as a validation set. The linearity of all the methods was in the concentration ranges of (0.1-4.0 μg mL^-1, 0.4-10.0 μg mL^-1) for AML and ATR, correspondingly. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between the proposed methods and the reference method. The validity of the proposed methods allows their suitability for quality control work. All the analysis settings were optimized and all the suggested procedures were applied productively for the determination of both drugs in synthetic mixtures, validation set, and combination polypills.

Rapid and Sensitive Determination of Methylxanthines in Commercial Brands of Tea Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Recently, chromatographic techniques have the potential to be greener in order to reduce the environmental impact. In this work, a new simple, sensitive, efficient, and green analytical method based on UHPLC-MS has been developed for a quick determination of methylxanthines including caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in tea. Under the optimum conditions, a baseline separation has been achieved within 30 seconds, using isocratic elution consisting of 90% water and only 10% acetonitrile at 0.5 mL/min flow rate (3 mL acetonitrile per hour). The mass spectrometer was operated with the SIR mode in ESI⁺. The developed method was found to be linear in the range of 0.03–5 μg/mL, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9995 for the three compounds. The respective values of LOD were found to be 0.025, 0.015, and 0.01 μg/mL for caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline, respectively. The proposed assay was applied to 30 commercial tea samples of different brands. Both caffeine and theobromine were found in all tea samples with maximum concentration in sample no. 15, corresponding to 32.6 and 2.72 mg/g of caffeine and theobromine, respectively. On the contrary, theophylline was not detected at all in most samples. When compared with all previous studies that dealt with the same compounds in different matrices, the developed method was found to be the fastest, allowing high-throughput analyses with more than 100 samples/h. The results prove that the method is suitable for routine analysis of methylxanthines and to distinguish the quality of tea samples of various brands.

A novel electrochemical analysis of the legal psychoactive drug caffeine using a zeolite/MWCNT modified carbon paste sensor

Caffeine (Caf) is a natural central nervous system stimulant categorized by the US Food and Drug Administration as a safe drug and its maximal amount in soft drinks has been approximately determined to be lower than 200 mg L⁻¹.

Simultaneous Determination of Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers in Commercial Pharmaceutical Products Utilizing Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) Multivariate Calibration Model

The quality of over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers is important to ensure the safety of the marketed products in order to maintain the overall health care of patients. In this study, the multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) chemometric method was developed and validated for the resolution and quantification of the most commonly consumed OTC pain relievers (acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, naproxen, and caffeine) in commercial drug formulations. The analytical performance of the developed chemometric methods such as root mean square error of prediction, bias, standard error of prediction, relative error of prediction, and coefficients of determination was calculated for the developed model. The obtained results are linear with concentration in the range of 0.5-7 μg/mL for acetaminophen and 0.5-3.5 and 0.5-3 μg/mL for naproxen and caffeine, respectively, while the linearity ranges for acetyl salicylic acid and ibuprofen were 1-15 μg/mL. High values of coefficients of determination ≥0.9995 reflected high predictive ability of the developed model. Good recoveries ranging from 98.0% to 99.7% were obtained for all analytes with relative standard deviations (RSDs) not higher than 1.62%. The optimized method was successfully applied for the analysis of the studied drugs either in their single or coformulated pharmaceutical products without any separation step. The optimized method was also compared with a reported HPLC method using paired t-test and F-ratio at 95% confidence level, and the results showed no significant difference regarding accuracy and precision. The developed method is eco-friendly, simple, fast, and amenable for routine analysis. It could be used as a cost-effective alternative to chromatographic techniques for the analysis of the studied drugs in commercial formulations.

Resolution and quantification challenge of modern chemometric models in the determination of anti-migraine tablets containing ergotamine, caffeine, acetaminophen, and metoclopramide

Unique mixture of ergotamine (ERG), metoclopramide (MET), caffeine (CAF) and the study presents a comparison between five multivariate models in the determination of the paracetamol (PAR) in laboratory mixtures and in pharmaceutical formulations.

Full spectrum and selected spectrum based multivariate calibration methods for simultaneous determination of betamethasone dipropionate, clotrimazole and benzyl alcohol: Development, validation and application on commercial dosage form

Five different chemometric methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of betamethasone dipropionate (BMD), clotrimazole (CT) and benzyl alcohol (BA) in their combined dosage form (Lotriderm® cream). The applied methods included three full spectrum based chemometric techniques; namely principal component regression (PCR), Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), while the other two methods were PLS and ANN preceded by genetic algorithm procedure (GA-PLS and GA-ANN) as a wavelength selection procedure. A multilevel multifactor experimental design was adopted for proper construction of the models. A validation set composed of 12 mixtures containing different ratios of the three analytes was used to evaluate the predictive power of the suggested models. All the proposed methods except ANN, were successfully applied for the analysis of their pharmaceutical formulation (Lotriderm® cream). Results demonstrated the efficiency of the four methods as quantitative tool for analysis of the three analytes without prior separation procedures and without any interference from the co-formulated excipient. Additionally, the work highlighted the effect of GA on increasing the predictive power of PLS and ANN models.

Diagonal designs for a multi-component calibration experiment

Modern spectroscopic and sensor technologies combined with multivariate modelling are increasingly used for the quantitative analysis of complex mixtures. Their performance depends directly on the data design chosen for model training and validation. A well-balanced calibration experiment with the fewest samples possible presents additional challenges when several mixture components (factors) need to be calibrated on the same dataset and subsequently quantified from the same multivariate measurement. This practically important problem stays poorly addressed by the theory of experimental design. This theoretical work systematically formulates the requirements to an optimal calibration/validation dataset and introduces a new family of calibration designs, where the samples are placed along the diagonals of an experimental space that is a hypercube. Such placement is appropriate due to reasonable assumptions about the linear nature of analytical response. Suggested filling schemes allow economical diagonal designs with intrinsic validation to be built for multiple factors presented in as many levels as the number of samples. The most important practical cases of two and three factors are considered in detail, and generalization to higher dimensions is outlined. Diagonal designs of any complexity can be generated using a simple geometrical scheme or with a supplied script.

Simultaneous UV-Vis spectrophotometric quantification of ternary basic dye mixtures by partial least squares and artificial neural networks

One of the main difficulties in quantification of dyes in industrial wastewaters is the fact that dyes are usually in complex mixtures rather than being pure. Here we report the development of two rapid and powerful methods, partial least squares (PLS-1) and artificial neural network (ANN), for spectral resolution of a highly overlapping ternary dye system in the presence of interferences. To this end, Crystal Violet (CV), Malachite Green (MG) and Methylene Blue (MB) were selected as three model dyes whose UV-Vis absorption spectra highly overlap each other. After calibration, both prediction models were validated through testing with an independent spectra-concentration dataset, in which high correlation coefficients (R²) of 0.998, 0.999 and 0.999 were obtained by PLS-1 and 0.997, 0.999 and 0.999 were obtained by ANN for CV, MG and MB, respectively. Having shown a relative error of prediction of less than 3% for all the dyes tested, both PLS-1 and ANN models were found to be highly accurate in simultaneous determination of dyes in pure aqueous samples. Using net-analyte signal concept, the quantitative determination of dyes spiked in seawater samples was carried out successfully by PLS-1 with satisfactory recoveries (90-101%).

Certification of caffeine reference material purity by ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection as two independent analytical methods

Caffeine reference material certified for purity is produced worldwide, but no research work on the details of the certification process has been published in the literature. In this paper, we report the scientific details of the preparation and certification of pure caffeine reference materials. Caffeine was prepared by extraction from roasted and ground coffee by dichloromethane after heating in deionized water mixed with magnesium oxide. The extract was purified, dried, and bottled in dark glass vials. Stratified random selection was applied to select a number of vials for homogeneity and stability studies, which revealed that the prepared reference material is homogeneous and sufficiently stable. Quantification of caffeine purity % was carried out using a calibrated UV/visible spectrophotometer and a calibrated high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection method. The results obtained from both methods were combined to drive the certified value and its associated uncertainty. The certified value of the reference material purity was found to be 99.86% and its associated uncertainty was ±0.65%, which makes the candidate reference material a very useful calibrant in food and drug chemical analysis.

Structure-Bioactivity Relationships of Methylxanthines: Trying to Make Sense of All the Promises and the Drawbacks

Methylxanthines are a group of phytochemicals derived from the purine base xanthine and obtained from plant secondary metabolism. They are unobtrusively included in daily diet in common products as coffee, tea, energetic drinks, or chocolate. Caffeine is by far the most studied methylxanthine either in animal or epidemiologic studies. Theophylline and theobromine are other relevant methylxanthines also commonly available in the aforementioned sources. There are many disseminated myths about methylxanthines but there is increased scientific knowledge to discuss all the controversy and promise shown by these intriguing phytochemicals. In fact, many beneficial physiologic outcomes have been suggested for methylxanthines in areas as important and diverse as neurodegenerative and respiratory diseases, diabetes or cancer. However, there have always been toxicity concerns with methylxanthine (over)consumption and pharmacologic applications. Herein, we explore the structure-bioactivity relationships to bring light those enumerated effects. The potential shown by methylxanthines in such a wide range of conditions should substantiate many other scientific endeavors that may highlight their adequacy as adjuvant therapy agents and may contribute to the advent of functional foods. Newly designed targeted molecules based on methylxanthine structure may originate more specific and effective outcomes.

Covalent attachment of aptamer onto nanocomposite as a high performance electrochemical sensing platform: Fabrication of an ultra-sensitive ibuprofen electrochemical aptasensor

In the present study, we report a selective electrochemical aptasensor for the ultrasensitive detection of an anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen (IBP). The proposed system was achieved by the modification of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with multiwalled carbon nanotubes/ionic liquid/chitosan (MWCNTs/IL/Chit) nanocomposite and the covalent immobilization of the IBP specific aptamer (Apt) onto the modified electrode surface followed by methylene blue (MB) intercalated onto the Apt as the electrochemical redox marker. Upon the incubation of the IBP as a target in the proposed aptasensor, the peak current of MB decreases due to the formation of the Apt-IBP complex and the displacement of MB from the immobilized Apt onto the modified electrode surface. The nanocomposite not only increases the electrode surface area and accelerate the electron transfer kinetics but also it provides a highly stable matrix to enhance the loading amount of the Apt DNA sequence. Through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) experiments, it was found that the proposed aptasensor could detect the IBP with a linear range (70pM up to 6μM) and the detection limit (LOD) as low as 20pM. The results showed that the aptasensor had good sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, and specificity to detect the IBP. The proposed aptasensor was successfully applied for measuring the IBP concentration in real samples. Based on our experiments we can say that the present method proposes new horizons for the development of other aptasensors for diagnostic application in biosensing.

Simultaneous quantitative determination of paracetamol and tramadol in tablet formulation using UV spectrophotometry and chemometric methods

The UV spectrophotometric methods for simultaneous quantitative determination of paracetamol and tramadol in paracetamol-tramadol tablets were developed. The spectrophotometric data obtained were processed by means of partial least squares (PLS) and genetic algorithm coupled with PLS (GA-PLS) methods in order to determine the content of active substances in the tablets. The results gained by chemometric processing of the spectroscopic data were statistically compared with those obtained by means of validated ultra-high performance liquid chromatographic (UHPLC) method. The accuracy and precision of data obtained by the developed chemometric models were verified by analysing the synthetic mixture of drugs, and by calculating recovery as well as relative standard error (RSE). A statistically good agreement was found between the amounts of paracetamol determined using PLS and GA-PLS algorithms, and that obtained by UHPLC analysis, whereas for tramadol GA-PLS results were proven to be more reliable compared to those of PLS. The simplest and the most accurate and precise models were constructed by using the PLS method for paracetamol (mean recovery 99.5%, RSE 0.89%) and the GA-PLS method for tramadol (mean recovery 99.4%, RSE 1.69%).

Chemometrics resolution and quantification power evaluation: Application on pharmaceutical quaternary mixture of Paracetamol, Guaifenesin, Phenylephrine and p-aminophenol

Three advanced chemmometric-assisted spectrophotometric methods namely; Concentration Residuals Augmented Classical Least Squares (CRACLS), Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) and Principal Component Analysis-Artificial Neural Networks (PCA-ANN) were developed, validated and benchmarked to PLS calibration; to resolve the severely overlapped spectra and simultaneously determine; Paracetamol (PAR), Guaifenesin (GUA) and Phenylephrine (PHE) in their ternary mixture and in presence of p-aminophenol (AP) the main degradation product and synthesis impurity of Paracetamol. The analytical performance of the proposed methods was described by percentage recoveries, root mean square error of calibration and standard error of prediction. The four multivariate calibration methods could be directly used without any preliminary separation step and successfully applied for pharmaceutical formulation analysis, showing no excipients' interference.

Spectrophotometric Analysis of Caffeine

The nature of caffeine reveals that it is a bitter white crystalline alkaloid. It is a common ingredient in a variety of drinks (soft and energy drinks) and is also used in combination with various medicines. In order to maintain the optimum level of caffeine, various spectrophotometric methods have been developed. The monitoring of caffeine is very important aspect because of its consumption in higher doses that can lead to various physiological disorders. This paper incorporates various spectrophotometric methods used in the analysis of caffeine in various environmental samples such as pharmaceuticals, soft and energy drinks, tea, and coffee. A range of spectrophotometric methodologies including chemometric techniques and derivatization of spectra have been used to analyse the caffeine.

Fabrication of an ultrasensitive ibuprofen nanoaptasensor based on covalent attachment of aptamer to electrochemically deposited gold-nanoparticles on glassy carbon electrode

The paper reports the development of an ultrasensitive nanoaptasensor based on the covalent attachment of an aptamer (Apt) to gold-nanoparticles (AuNPs) deposited on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) as the unique platform. The developed nanoaptasensor was utilized to assay the anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen (IBP). The sensing platform was fabricated using a single-stage electrodeposite approach. It is worth noting that the proposed nanoaptasensor combines the advantages of the deposition of neatly arranged AuNPs (enlarged active surface area and strengthened electrochemical signal) and the elimination of enzymes or antibodies for the amplified detection of IBP, with the covalent attachment of the Apt to the surface of the modified electrode. Moreover, the newly developed nanoaptasensor embraces a number of attractive features such as ease of fabrication, low detection limit, excellent selectivity, good stability and a wide linear range with respect to IBP. Meanwhile, interference of common interfering analgesic drugs was effectively avoided. In optimized empirical conditions, the response current of the nanoaptasensor is linear to IBP concentrations from 0.005 nmol(-1) to 7 nmol(-1) with the detection limit (LOD) as accurate as 0.5 pmol(-1). This LOD value proves more sensitive in comparison with previously reported methods. Thus, the fabricated nanoaptasensor can serve as a powerful sensor for rapid diagnosis of IBP in human blood samples and shows great potential for practical bioapplication.

Development of glassy carbon electrode modified with ruthenium red-multiwalled carbon nanotubes for simultaneous determination of epinephrine and acetaminophen

A glassy carbon electrode modified with ruthenium red and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube has been developed. The electrochemical response characteristics of the modified electrode toward epinephrine (EP) and acetaminophen (AC) was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Linear calibration plots were obtained over the range of 0.3 - 333.3 μM for both EP and AC with sensitivities of 0.221 and 0.174 μA μM(-1) for EP and AC, respectively. The detection limits for EP and AC were 0.04 and 0.06 μM, respectively. The diffusion coefficients for the oxidation of EP and AC at the modified electrode were calculated as 2.74 ± 0.05 × 10(-5) and 1.75 ± 0.07 × 10(-5) cm(2) s(-1), respectively. The practical analytical utilities of the modified electrode were demonstrated by the determination of EP and AC in human urine and serum as well as AC tablet samples.

Multicomponent spectrometric analysis of riboflavin and photoproducts and their kinetic applications

Riboflavin (RF) is a light sensitive compound and is known to form a number of photoproducts. These photoproducts possess the same nucleus and may interfere in the analysis of RF by UV and visible spectrometry. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the methods of multicomponent spectrometric analysis to quantify the vitamin and its photoproducts accurately. Such methods are useful in the study of the kinetics of photodegradation reactions of RF to obtain accurate and reliable results. Any interference in these methods due to linear or nonlinear irrelevant absorption of the minor unknown products can be accounted for by the application of appropriate correction procedures prior to kinetic treatment. Various factors affecting the accuracy, precision and selectivity of these analytical procedures are also discussed. This review highlights the principles and applications of multicomponent spectrometric methods and their application to the simultaneous determination of RF and its major photoproducts in degraded solutions to evaluate the kinetics of degradation.