Cathodic Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetric Behavior and Determination of Tricyclic Antidepressant Drug Nortriptyline Hydrochloride in Bulk Form and Pharmaceutical Formulation

Abstract

Nortriptyline hydrochloride is second generation commonly administered tricyclic antidepressants used widely in endogenous depression and may also be effective in some cases of reactive depression. The electro reductive behaviour of nortriptyline hydrochloride was investigated and a well-defined cathodic peak was observed. From the electrochemical response the main reduction step was found to be related to the reduction of C=C group. A versatile fully validated voltammetric method for quantitative determination of nortriptyline hydrochloride in commercial tablets has been proposed, where direct dissolution of tablets is carried out in 0.1 M tetraethylammoniumperchlorate (TEAP) containing dimethylformamide (DMF) solutions. Cyclic voltammetric (CV), differential pulse cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetric (DPCAdSV) and squarewave cathodic adsorptive stripping voltammetric (SWCAdSV) techniques were applied to study nortriptyline hydrochloride at a HMDE, exhibiting a well defined irreversible reduction peak at -1.02 V vs. Ag/AgCl (3M KCl). The current versus concentration plot was linear over the range 0.1 - 4.5 μg mL-1 and 0.1 - 5.5 μg mL-1 using SWCAdSV and DPCAdSV modes respectively, with a minimum detectability of 0.05 μg mL-1 and 0.057 μg mL-1 and with mean percentage recoveries of 99.7 and 99.4 respectively.