Utility of N-Bromosuccinimide-Water Combination as a Green Reagents for a Validated Indirect Spectrophotometric Determination of Some Antihypertensive Drugs: An Application to Their Monitoring in Marketed Tablets and Capsules.

Background: Analytical tests were conducted to investigate the use of N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as an important, safe analytical reagent for the spectrophotometric detection of therapeutically significant dihydropyridine-based calcium antagonists (DHP), namely nifedipine (NIF) and amlodipine (AML), which have been demonstrated to possess antioxidant activity in vivo and to reduce the intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Following the reaction of DHP and NBS in acidic media, the excess NBS was evaluated for the first time by its interaction with P-aminophenol (PAP), which produced a violet-colored product that was detected at 556 nm.

Objective: The analytical method was performed and validated since different variables disturbing the reaction (concentration of reagent, type and concentration of the selected acid, reaction time and the diluting solvents) were carefully studied and optimized.

Methods: The stoichiometry of the applied reaction was determined by Job's method of continuous variation. Monitoring of these drug dosage forms' content uniformity is a first tool or evidence for their efficacy and safety after their administration.

Results: Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 1.25-11.0 µg/mL for NIF and 1.25-10.0 µg/mL for AML. The calculated limit of detection (LODs) and limit of quantification (LOQs) for NIF and AML were 0.220, 0.155 µg/mL and 0.519, 0.735 µg/mL, respectively. The precision of the applied method was satisfactory; the RSDs did not exceed 2%. Two greenness assessment tools, the Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) and Analytical Greenness Metric for Sample Preparation (AGREEprep) were used for measuring the environmental friendliness of the recommended method.

Conclusion: The micro-determinations of content uniformity for NIF and AML in their pharmaceutical dosage forms were extremely comparable with those from official and validated procedures.

Highlights: A validated indirect spectrophotometric method for accurate quantification of some 1,4-dihydropyridine drugs using NBS with the aid of PAP. Monitoring of NIF and AML dosage forms' content uniformity as a first tool or evidence for their efficacy and safety after their administration. Greenness evaluation tools, GAPI and AGREEprep, for measuring the environmental friendliness of the recommended method.