SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF OFLOXACIN AND LEVOFLOXACIN IN PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATIONS

Abstract

A new, simple, accurate and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the analysis of ofloxacin (OFL) and levofloxacin (LEV) in their pharmaceutical formulations, through oxidation of these drugs with a known excess of cerium (IV) sulphate in acidic medium and the residual oxidant is determined by treating with a fixed amount of methyl orange, then measuring the absorbance at 507 nm. The amount of cerium (IV) sulphate reacted corresponds to the drug concentration in the sample solution. Different variables affecting the reaction were carefully studied. Beer’s law correlating the absorbance with concentration was obeyed in the range of 0.5—3.0 and 1.0—3.5 μg mL-1 for OFL and LEV respectively, with good correlation coefficient (0.99854 and 0.99931 for OFL and LEV respectively). The method was validated in terms of accuracy and precision and successfully applied to the determination of each drug in its pharmaceutical formulations. The results obtained by the proposed method were comparable with those obtained by reported method.