Spectrophotometric determination of diloxanide furoate in its dosage forms

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of diloxanide furoate in its dosage forms. The method is based on the reaction of the drug with potassium permanganate in the presence of sodium hydroxide to produce a bluish green coloured species measurable at 610 nm. The absorbance-concentration plot is linear over the range 2.5-20 microg/ml with correlation coefficient (n = 8) of 0.9998 and minimum detectability of 0.2 microg/ml (6.1 x 10(-7) M). The molar absorptivity was 1.1 x 10(4) l/mol cm. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the colour were carefully studied and optimised. The proposed method was applied successfully for the determination of diloxanide furoate in its tablet form. The results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained using the official method. The proposed method could be applied to the determination of diloxanide furoate in presence of some co-formulated drugs. The effect of sensitisers and surfactants on the performance of the proposed method was also studied. A proposal of the reaction pathway was presented.