Spectrophotometric determination of flucythrinate (synthetic pyrethroid) using phenylhydrazines

Three spectrophotometric methods are described for determining flucythrinate, based on formation of coloured compounds when one of the hydrolysed products of flucythrinate is condensed with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH), 4-nitrophenylhydrazine (4-NPH) or 2,4,6-trinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4,6-TNPH) in the presence of methanolic potassium hydroxide. These coloured compounds absorb strongly at 465 nm (2,4-DNPH), 540 nm (4-NPH) and 485 nm (2,4,6-TNPH). The methods are applicable over the range 0.1-8.0 mug/ml for 2,4-DNPH, 0.5-6.5 mug/ml for 4-NPH and 0.1-6 mug/ml for 2,4,6-TNPH. The methods are rapid, sensitive and selective and can be used for microdetermination of flucythrinate in a commercial formulation, water, grains and crop samples.