Determination of Citalopram in Tablets by HPLC, Densitometric HPTLC, and Videodensitometric HPTLC Methods

Abstract

Three simple, rapid, and accurate analytical methods for the determination of citalopram in tablets were developed. The high performance liquid chromatography method was carried out using Waters Nova‐Pak C18 column with a mobile phase composed of methanol–0.067 M phosphate buffer pH 2.00 (55:45, v/v), UV‐VIS detector at 239 nm, and moclobemide as the internal standard. High performance thin layer chromatography was performed on silica gel 60F₂₅₄ HPTLC plates with a mixture of benzene–acetone–ethanol–25% aqueous ammonia (45:40:10:5, v/v/v/v) as a mobile phase. The detection and quantification were carried out at 226 nm (densitometry) and 254 nm (videodensitometry). The linearity range for the HPLC method was 5–50 µg/mL and for both HPTLC methods was 0.2–3.2 µg per spot. The RSD values obtained for the standard solutions were <2.0% for HPLC, <2.4% for densitometry, and <2.9% for videodensitometry. The recovery values obtained for the model mixtures were between 99.47% and 102.70%, between 102.17% and 104.44%, and between 100.74% and 104.01%, respectively.

Keywords:

• HPLC
• HPTLC
• Citalopram
• Determination
• Tablets