Abstract
Validated simple, sensitive, and highly selective methods are applied for the quantitative determination of dexamethasone and chlorpheniramine maleate in the presence of their reported preservatives (methylparaben and propylparaben), whether in pure forms or in pharmaceutical formulation. TLC is the first method, in which dexamethasone, chlorpheniramine maleate, methylparaben, and propylparaben are separated on silica gel TLC F-254 plates using hexane acetone ammonia (5.5 + 4.5 + 0.5, v/v/v) as the developing phase. Separated bands are scanned at 254 nm over a concentration range of 0.1-1.7 and 0.4-2.8 mu g/band, with mean +/- SD recoveries of 99.12 +/- 0.964 and 100.14 +/- 0.962%, for dexamethasone and chlorpheniramine maleate, respectively. Reversed-phase HPLC is the second method, in which a mixture of dexamethasone and chlorpheniramine maleate, methylparaben, and propylparaben is separated on a reversed-phase silica C-18 (5 mu m particle size, 250 mm, 4.6 mm id) column using 0.1 M ammonium acetate buffer acetonitrile (60 + 40, v/v, pH 3) as the mobile phase. The drugs were detected at 220 nm over a concentration range of 5-50 mu g/mL, 2-90 mu g/mL, 4-100 mu g/mL, and 7-50 mu g/mL, with mean +/- SD recoveries of 100.85 +/- 0.905, 99.67 +/- 1.281, 100.20 +/- 0.906, and 99.81 +/- 0.954%, for dexamethasone, chlorpheniramine maleate, methylparaben paraben, and propylparaben, respectively. The advantages of the suggested methods over previously reported methods are the ability to detect lower concentrations of the main drugs and to show better resolution of interfering preservatives; hence, these methods could be more reliable for routine QC analyses.