Highly selective colorimetric method to determine gemifloxacin mesylate in the presence of a synthetic impurity

A simple visible spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GFM) in tablets. The method was based on the formation of a yellow ion-pair complex between the basic nitrogen of the drug and the sulfonphthalein acid dye in phthalate buffer. The method was validated by the study of its specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, and robustness. The assay was compared with an LC and a microbiological method, and the analysis of variance showed no significant difference between the methods (P>0.05). The results demonstrated that the visible spectrophotometric method is suitable for determination of GFM in tablets, even in the presence of a synthetic impurity.