Electroanalytical study of the antidepressant sertraline

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Sertraline is a widely prescribed antidepressant.
• Accurate quantification of sertraline in pharmaceutical preparations is crucial for quality control.
• Chromatographic methods are commonly used but can be time-consuming and costly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a flow injection square wave cathodic stripping voltammetric method for sertraline determination.
• To assess the method's performance in terms of linearity, detection limits, and precision.
• To evaluate the method's applicability to real pharmaceutical samples.

Main Methods:

• Flow injection analysis coupled with square wave cathodic stripping voltammetry.
• Optimization of electrochemical parameters for sertraline detection.
• Validation of the method using standard solutions and a commercial pharmaceutical product.

Main Results:

• Linearity was observed between peak current and sertraline concentration from 0.20 x 10(-6) to 1.20 x 10(-6) mol L(-1).
• Limits of detection and quantification were 1.5 x 10(-7) and 5.0 x 10(-7) mol L(-1), respectively.
• The method achieved a high sample throughput of 70 samples per hour with good precision (R.S.D. = 2.5%).

Conclusions:

• The developed flow injection voltammetric method provides a sensitive, precise, and rapid approach for sertraline determination.
• This method is a viable and cost-effective alternative to chromatographic techniques for pharmaceutical analysis.
• The successful application to a commercial product demonstrates its practical utility in quality control.