Design of an Imipramine‐Selective Electrode Based on an Ion‐Pair and its Application to Pharmaceutical Analysis

Abstract

AbstractIon‐selective electrodes play an important role in pharmaceutical analysis due to their simplicity, rapidity and accuracy over some other analytical methods. This research introduces the design of an ion‐pair of imipramine‐tetraphenyl borate (IMP‐TPB) based PVC membrane sensor for IMP hydrochloride determination. Effect of the membrane composition, the pH influence and the effect of lipophilic anionic additives on the response characteristics of the electrode were investigated. After a series of experiments, the best electrode performance was accomplished with a membrane composition of 30% PVC, 63% DBP, 5% (IMP‐TPB) and 2% (NaTPB). This electrode illustrated a fast (15 s), stable and Nernstian response across a relatively wide IMP hydrochloride concentration range (10−5 to 10−5 M), in the pH range of (3.0–8.0), and it can be used for at least two months without any measurable change in sensitivity. Additionally, the interference between IMP and several drugs and common inorganic anions was negligible as shown by the potentiometric selectivity coefficient data. The membrane sensor was successfully applied to the determination of IMP in tablets and human urine samples, and very good recovery results were obtained.