Synthesis of photoluminescence carbon dots from red beetroot and utilizing its extract as blue-emitted fluorescence probes for spectrofluorimetric determination of tenoxicam in varied pharmaceutical samples

Abstract

Tenoxicam (TNX) belongs to non-steroidal drugs that effectively treat many inflammatory disorders. In this study, luminescent carbon dots were synthesized from red beetroot as a green fluorescence probe. The synthesized carbon dots' morphology, size, and spectroscopic features were investigated and characterized by spectrophotometric, FTIR, SEM, spectrofluorimetric, and TEM techniques. The synthesized carbon dots possessed an emission at 430 nm and an excitation at 366.5 nm. Meanwhile, TNX is a yellow-colored compound with a spectrophotometric absorbance peak at 370 nm. Based on the inner filter effect mechanism, the emission fluorescence intensity of the synthesized carbon dots has been markedly quenched upon the addition of TNX. In addition, the quenching in the fluorescence intensity was quantitively related to the concentration of TNX at the linear range of 0.25 - 2.5 µg/mL (r2 = 0.9989) with a LOD of 0.08 µg/mL and LOQ of 0.24 µg/mL. The second side of this study is based on enhancing the fluorescence intensity of the acetonitrile extract of red beetroot upon the addition of TNX solution. This enhancement was recorded at a fluorescence emission of 357 nm with a fluorescence excitation of 305.5 nm. In addition, the enhancement in the fluorescence intensity was quantitively related to the concentration of TNX at the linear range of 0.5 - 8.0 µg/mL (r2 = 0.9995) with a LOD of 0.16 µg/mL and LOQ of 0.49 µg/mL. The analytical conditions were well-optimized, and the developed method was validated according to ICH guidelines. Finally, the proposed spectrofluorimetric approaches were applied to determine TNX in vials, tablets, and capsules with good recovery and accepted statistical results.