Conductometric Determination of N-acetylcysteine in Pharmaceutical Formulations Using Copper(II) Sulphate as Titrant

Abstract

A simple, precise, rapid, and low-cost conductometric method for N-acetylcysteine determination in pharmaceutical formulations is proposed. N-acetylcysteine present in pharmaceuticals containing known quantities of the drug was conductometrically titrated in aqueous solution with copper(II) sulphate using a conductometric cell coupled to an autotitrator. No interferences were observed in the presence of common components of the tablets such as sodium monophosphate, saccharine, sodium benzoate, sucrose, and fructose. Recoveries of N-acetylcysteine from various tablet dosage formulations ranging from 98.3 to 102.0% were obtained.

Keywords:

• Conductometry
• copper(II)
• N-acetylcysteine
• titration

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Fundação de Amparo á Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; Proc. 06/05146-0), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for financial support.

Notes

Note. Experimental vs. theoretical values.