A simple kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of isoxsuprine in dosage forms

A simple and sensitive kinetic method was developed for the determination of isoxsuprine in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based upon a kinetic investigation of the oxidation reaction of the drug with alkaline potassium permanganate at room temperature for a fixed time of 30 min. The absorbance of the coloured manganate ion was measured at 610 nm. Alternatively, the decrease in the absorbance of potassium permanganate after addition of the drug was measured at 525 nm. The absorbance-concentration plots in both procedures were rectilinear over the range of 0.5-4 microg ml(-1) (r = 0.9998) with a minimum detectability of 0.05 microg ml (-1) (1.48 x 10(-7) M). The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the colours were carefully studied and optimized. The determination of isoxsuprine by the fixed concentration and rate constant methods is also feasible with the calibration equations obtained but the fixed time method has been found to be more applicable. Both procedures were applied to the determination of isoxsuprine in formulations. The results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained using a reference method. The proposed method was also adopted to detect isoxsuprine in spiked human plasma at its therapeutic level of concentration (0.4 microg ml(-1)). A proposal of the reaction pathway was postulated.