Spectrophotometric, spectrofluorimetric and LC determination of trazodone hydrochloride

Three methods are described for the determination of trazodone hydrochloride in pharmaceutical tablets. The spectrophotometric method was based on the formation of yellow ion pair complex between the basic nitrogen of the drug and bromophenol blue at pH 3.4. The formed complex was extracted with chloroform and measured at 414 nm. The spectrofluorimetric method was based on measurement of the native fluorescence of the drug in 50% acetic acid upon excitation at a maximum of 320 nm and the emission wavelength is 435 nm. The third method was based on the high performance liquid chromatographic determination of trazodone hydrochloride using a reversed phase, ODS column, with a mobile phase of acetonitrile--phosphate buffer at pH 4.5 (60:40, v/v). Quantization was achieved with UV detection at 250 nm based on peak area. The three methods were simple, accurate and suitable for quality control application.