Simple extractive colorimetric determination of levofloxacin by acid–dye complexation methods in pharmaceutical preparations

Two simple and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric methods have been described for the assay of levofloxacin (LVFX) either in pure form or in pharmaceutical formulations. The developed methods involve formation of colored chloroform extractable ion-pair complexes (1:1 and 1:2 drug/dye) of levofloxacin with bromophenol blue (BPB) and bromocresol green (BCG) in aqueous acidic medium. The extracted complexes showed absorbance maxima at 424 and 428 nm for LVFX-BPB and LVFX-BCG, respectively. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration ranges 1.85–31.5 and 1.85–25 μg ml⁻¹ with BPB and BCG, respectively. The methods have been applied to the determination of drug in commercial tablets. Results of analysis were validated statistically. The excipients present in the formulations do not interfere with the assay procedure.