Simultaneous Eco-Friendly Spectrofluorometric Estimation of Itraconazole and Ibuprofen in Pharmaceutical and Biological Matrices

Abstract

A rapid, facile, and green spectrofluorometric method was developed for the concurrent precise estimation of itraconazole and ibuprofen. The developed method involved the use of Tween-80 micelle as a green sample matrix for the efficient assay of the analytes of interest. Besides the greenness of Tween-80, it significantly enhanced the native fluorescence of itraconazole by about 450%. The spectrofluorometric measurements of studied analytes were conducted in a 1% Tween-80 micellar medium at 370 nm for itraconazole and 288 nm for ibuprofen, following an excitation at 260 nm for both drugs. The fluorescent intensity–concentration relationships for both drugs were linear within the concentration ranges of 30–400 ng mL⁻¹ for itraconazole and 300–5000 ng mL⁻¹ for ibuprofen, showing high correlation coefficient values. The method exhibited high precision, with quantitation limits of 13.3 ng mL⁻¹ for itraconazole and 260.6 ng mL⁻¹ for ibuprofen. Successful application to commercial tablet formulations demonstrated the method's accuracy and sensitivity. Validation per ICH guidelines confirmed its effectiveness for quantifying the drugs in spiked human plasma, achieving high recovery rates. Furthermore, an evaluation of the method's environmental impact using GAPI and analytical Eco-Scale metrics confirmed its eco-friendliness.