Determination of Citalopram Using Flow Injection-Solid Phase Extraction with Spectrofluorometric Detection

• Published in: Chromatographia 2007-09, Vol.66 (S1), p.75-79
• Main Authors: Şatana, E, Ertaş, N, Göğer, N. G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Citalopram; flow injection analysis; On-line solid phase extraction; Spectrofluorometry
• ISSN: 0009-5893; 1612-1112
• DOI: 10.1365/s10337-007-0297-4

Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is used as an antidepressant agent. In this study an on-line solid phase extraction method with spectrofluorometric detection was developed. Solid phase extraction cartridges contain 200 mg C18 with a particle size of 45 μm. The best solvent system found was consistend of ethanol and 0.1 M acetic acid (40:60, v/v) for elution. The optimized values of injection volume and flow rate were 1 mL and 2.5 mL min-¹. The excitation and emission wavelengths were 240 and 300 nm. The calibrations were linear in the concentration range of 1.0 x 10-⁷-1.5 x 10-⁶ M in aqueous solution and 2.5 x 10-⁷-1.2 x 10-⁶ M in serum. The limit of detection values were 1.6 x 10-⁸ M for citalopram in tablets and 1.7 x 10-⁸ M in serum samples. The limit of quantification values were 5.2 x 10-⁸ M for citalopram in tablets and 5.5 x 10-⁸ M in serum. The proposed method has been applied successfully for the determination of citalopram HBr in pharmaceutical tablets and also in spiked human serum. The recovery values of the method were 99.5-100.6% for tablets and 98.8-100.9% for serum.