Sodium Coumarin 6-Sulfonate, A Fluorometric Ion-Pairing Reagent for Tertiary Amines. Application to the Determination of Chlorpheniramine Maleate

Abstract

A study of sodium coumarin 6-sulfonate as a fluorescent ionpair reagent indicated that it could be useful in the analysis of tertiary amines such as chlorpheniramine maleate. The physical properties of the coumarin sulfonate that make it suitable as a fluorescent ion-pair reagent for basic drugs are its high relative quantum yield (0.76) and its acidity (pKa of −7.66). Methylene chloride containing 5% n−pentanol was used to extract the coumarinchlorpheniramine ion-pair from aqueous solution. It was found that a 10⁻² M coumarin concentration yielded a 92% recovery of chlorpheniramine at pH 5. Following phase separation, the coumarin species was completely ionized by the addition of tetrabuty1 ammonium hydroxide to the organic phase. After irradiation for 30 min using long wavelength ultraviolet light (365 nm), the fluorescence intensity of the sample was measured using excitation and emission wavelengths of 400 and 540 nm, respectively. Comparison of fluorescence data of spiked aqueous samples to that of a chlorpheniramine maleate standard curve performed concurrently gave drug concentration in the samples. The calibration curve was linear in the 50–1000 ng/ml range (0.13 − 2.6 × 10 ⁻⁶ M). The procedure allowed the determination of chlorpheniramine maleate with an accuracy of 4–6% and a precision of 2–6% RSD (relative standard deviation). The minimum detectable concentration of drug (S/N = 2) that can be assayed by this method is 50 ng/ml of the maleate salt (35.3 ng/ml of chlorpheniramine free base).