ABSTRACT

A new simple, precise, sensitive, accurate and reproducible

spectrophotometric method have been developed for determination
of cetirizine in pure and dosage forms. Method is based on oxidation
of drug with 1, 10phenanthroline producing orange color chromogen
which is measured at 510 nm. Beer’s Law is obeyed in the
.concentration range of 1.0 – 5.0 μg/ml for the developed method
 INTRODUCTION
Cetirizine hydrochloride is a piperazine derivative and its
chemical name is (±) – [2-[4-[(4-
chlorophenyl) phenyl methyl]-1-piperazinyl]ethoxy]acetic acid,
dihydrochloride.

Cetirizine is an antihistamine used to relieve allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose,
itching eyes/nose, sneezing, hives, and itching. It works by blocking a certain natural substance
(histamine) that your body makes during an allergic reaction. It is widely used in the
comprehensive management of allergic rhinitis, the symptoms of which include itching,
sneezing and nasal congestion
Cetirizine displays a series of advantages over its predecessors as it is free
of both sedative and cholinergic effects and has potent anti allergic activity.
Its molecular formula is C21H27Cl3N2O3

Literature reveals a variety of analytical methods for determination of

Cetirizine such as :
fluorimetry, conductimetry, gas chromatography, HPLC, TLC, and
spectrophotometry,ion-selective electrodes.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
An systronics UV-VIS Spectrophotometer-118 Model with
1cm length quartz coated optics;
Wavelength range190-1000nm; High stability, linearity,
precision instrument is used for all
the spectral measurement
 Preparation of Standard solution of drug

An accurately weighed 5 mg of Cetirizine is dissolved in 50 ml of ethanol

The final volume is adjusted with 50% ethanol to 100ml in standard
flask .
 Preparation of Reagents
• 0.241%(w/v)Fe (III) solution is prepared by dissolving 241mg of anhydrous ferric
ammonium sulphate in 100mL of double distilled water,

• 0.991% (w/v) o-phenanthroline is prepared by dissolving 991mg of the reagent in 100mL

of alcohol

• and 0.15% (v/v) O-phosphoric acid solution is prepared by diluting 0.15 mL of

laboratory reagent (AR Grade) of o-phosphoric acid to 100mL with distilled water.
 Experimental Procedure
Different portions (1.0- 8.0ml, 50 μg/ml) of standard cetirizine solution is delivered
into a series of 25mL standard flask and then 1.0 mL of 5.0 x10-3 M of Fe (III) solution, 1.0
mL of 5.0 x10-2 M o-phenanthroline are added successively. The total volume in each tube is
brought to 20 ml with distilled water. The flasks are kept on a boiling water bath for 30 min.
The tubes are removed and cooled to room temperature. 1.0 ml of 2.0 x10-2 M of o-
phosphoric acid is added and volume in each flask is made up to the mark with distilled
water. The absorbance of the colored complex solution is measured after 5 min against a

reagent blank prepared similarly except drug, and maximum absorbance is found to be at 510

nm (Fig.1). The amount of the cetirizine drug is computed from the appropriate calibration
graph (Fig.2)
 Analysis of pharmaceutical sample
Tablets powdered equivalent to 5 mg of the drug is weighed accurately and transferred into
100 ml beaker and shaken with 50 ml ethanol by following standard method. The standard
solution is filtered into 100ml standard flask and volume is adjusted with 50% ethanol.
Suitable aliquots of this solution used for the determination of cetirizine contents by procedure
describe earlier.
20 minutes are sufficient for full colour development hence 30
minutes time is selected for
further studies.

Fig 3: Effect of heating time on absorbance of developed system

 Absorbance remains constant after 0.015M concentration of H3PO4.Hence 0.02M H3PO4 is
usued for colour development and further studies.

Fig 4: Effect of concentration of H3PO4 on colour development

0.05 M Concentration of 1,10 Phenanthroline is sufficient for full colour development. Hence
it is used for further study.

Fig 5: Effect of concentration of 1,10phenanthroline on absorbance of developed

system.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In order to test whether the colored product formed in this method adhere to Beer’s Law, the
absorbance at maximum wavelength of series of eight concentrations are plotted against
concentration of drug in μg/cm3 Beer’s Law is obeyed within the limits 1 to 5 μg/ml of
cetirizine, Molar absorptivity is found to be 2778Lmol-1 cm-1.
Regression analysis of Beer’s Law plots at λ max reveals a good correlation.
The graph show negligible intercept and described by regression equation y =0.018X + 0.003.
where Y is the absorbance of 1 cm layer, b is the slope, a is the intercept and
C is the concentration of the measured solution in μg/mL The high molar absorptivity of
resulting colored complex indicates the high sensitivity of method.
Scheme of coloured product
 CONCLUSIONS

The developed method is simple, sensitive, accurate and reproducible. This

method can be successfully applied for the analysis of pharmaceutical
formulations in any laboratory .
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