QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR THE EVALUATION OF ARTESUNATE IN PHARMACEUTICALS USING N-BROMOSUCCINIMIDE AS OXIDIMETRIC REAGENT
Emmanuel Attih* and Daniel A. Ambe
ABSTRACT
The success recorded so far by the global fight against malaria could be in jeopardy if the distribution of the
counterfeit artemisinin derivatives is not checked. One titrimetric and one spectrophotometric method are
developed for the assay of artesunate. These methods are based on the use of n-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as the
oxidimetric reagent. In the titrimetric method, NBS was titrated directly against artesunate using methyl orange. In
the spectrophotometric method a measured excess of NBS was reacted with artesunate, the unreacted NBS is
determined using a fixed amount of methyl orange. In both cases, the amount of NBS used is proportional to the
drug concentration. In the titrimetric method, the reaction was stoichiometric in the ratio of 1:2 (Drug:NBS); in the
range of 1-10 mg/mL.The spectrophotometric method obeyed Beer’s law in the range of 0.25-8.0μg/mL.The
molar absorptivity was 3.0 x 104L/mol./cm and Sandell sensitivity was 0.0095 μg/cm2. The limit of detection
(LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 0.08μg/mL and 0.17μg/mL respectively. The intra and inter day precision
and accuracy ≥ 3.0%. The developed methods were successfully used to assay artesunate tablets procured locally
and statistically compared with a reference international pharmacopeia method. The applicability and accuracy
were further tested by performing recovery studies via standard addition method with the result showing excellent
recoveries confirming that pharmaceutical excipients had no effects on the methods.
Keywords: artesunate, artemisinin derivatives, n-bromosuccinimide, counterfeit, malaria.
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