A SIMPLE UV SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FLUPENTHIXOL DIHYDROCHLORIDE IN BULK AND PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATIONS

A simple and cost effective spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of flupenthixol dihydrochloride in pure form and in pharmaceutical formulations. The drug was highly soluble in methanol so it was selected as the solvent system for the drug. This ensured adequate drug solubility and maximum assay sensitivity. The linearity range for flupenthixol dihydrochloride at its wavelength of detection of 230 nm was obtained as 1-15 µg/ml. The linear regression equation obtained by least square regression method, were Y = 0.0639X + 0.0013, where Y is the absorbance and X is the concentration (in µg/ml) of pure drug solution. The absorbance was found to increase linearly with increasing concentration of flupenthixol dihydrochloride, which is corroborated by the calculated correlation coefficient value of 0.9997. The limit of detection and limit of quantification was found to be 0.324 µg/ml & 0.982 µg/ml. The validity of the described procedure was assessed. Statistical analysis of the result has been carried out revealing high accuracy and good precision. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of flupenthixol dihydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations without any interference from common excipients.