Spectrophotometric determination of ephedrine hydrochloride and phenylephrine hydrochloride

A method is described for quantitative determination of the sympathomimetic amines ephedrine HCl and phenylephrine HCl. The method is based on the interaction of N-alkylvinylamine formed from the condensation of the free secondary amine group and acetaldehyde with chloranil to give a vinylamino-substituted quinone. The colored product for ephedrine HCl and phenylephrine HCl exhibits 2 maxima at about 320 and 680 nm. All variables were studied to optimize reaction conditions. The relationship between absorbance and concentration was linear within 1-25 micrograms/mL under the conditions studied for both drugs at both wavelengths. The method has been applied to the analysis of some pharmaceutical formulations including tablets and eye drops with good recoveries (98.75-100.4%).