Analytical Applications of Permanganate as an Oxidant in the Determination of Pharmaceuticals Using Chemiluminescence and Spectrophotometry: A Review

Background: Potassium permanganate is a green and versatile industrial oxidizing agent. Due to its high oxidizing ability, it has received considerable attention and has been extensively used for many years for the synthesis, identification, and determination of inorganic and organic compounds. Objective: Potassium permanganate is one of the most applicable oxidants, which has been applied in a number of processes in several industries. Furthermore, it has been widely used in analytical pharmacy to develop analytical methods for pharmaceutically active compounds using chemiluminescence and spectrophotometric techniques. Results: This review covers the importance of potassium permanganate over other common oxidants used in pharmaceuticals and reported its extensive use and analytical applications using direct, indirect and kinetic spectrophotometric methods in different pharmaceutical formulations and biological samples. Chemiluminescent applications of potassium permanganate in the analyses of pharmaceuticals using flow and sequential injection techniques are also discussed. Conclusion: This review summarizes the extensive use of potassium permanganate as a chromogenic and chemiluminescent reagent in the analyses of pharmaceutically active compounds to develop spectrophotometric and chemiluminescence methods since 2000.