Ciprofloxacin and Norfloxacin Spectrophotometric Determination in a Fully Automated Multi-Pumping Flow System

Abstract

A flow-based methodology for the spectrophotometric determination of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, based on the oxidation with N-bromosuccinimide in acidic medium, was developed. The proposed procedure was implemented in a multi-pumping flow system, which provided excellent mixing conditions due to the pulsed flow produced by solenoid micro-pumps actuation, resulting on a sensitive, simple, fast, and versatile analytical method. Linear calibration plots were obtained for ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin concentrations ranging from 5 to 70 mg L⁻¹ with an R.S.D < 2.2% (n = 10). Detection limits (3σ) were 0.27 mg L⁻¹ and 0.99 mg L⁻¹ for norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively.

Keywords:

• Ciprofloxacin
• Multi-pumping
• Norfloxacin
• Pulsed flow
• Spectrophotometry

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project PTDC/QUI-QUI/105514/2008.

Notes

^a Relative deviation of the developed method with respect to the reference procedure.

^b Mean ± S.D.