Fluorometric determination of 3,4-dihydroyphenylalaine in pharmaceutical formulation by reaction with paracetamol

A new method has been developed for the fluorometric determination of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalaine (l-dopa) in pharmaceutical formulations. The reaction product, belonging to fluorescent species, has the excitation and emission maxima at 410 and 510 nm, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, responses were linear between 0.06-4.0 and 4.0-12.0 mug ml(-1). The detection limit, corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, was 1 ng ml(-1). The relative standard deviation (n=10) was 0.6%. The proposed method was applied to determination of l-dopa in pharmaceutical formulations.