Voltammetric assay of naproxen in pharmaceutical formulations using boron-doped diamond electrode

The electrooxidation of naproxen was studied, for the first time, using boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry (CV and DPV) in nonaqueous solvent supporting electrolyte system. The results were also compared with glassy carbon electrode (GC) under the same conditions. Naproxen undergoes one electron transfer resulting in the formation of cation radical for the first electrooxidation step, which follows other chemical and electrochemical steps such as deprotonation, removal of another electron and the attack of nucleophile (ECEC mechanism). BDD electrode provided higher signal to background ratio, well resolved and highly reproducible cyclic voltammograms than the GC electrode. With a scan rate of 50 mV s(-1) and pulse height of 50 ms, respectively, the DPV technique was able to determine the naproxen concentrations in the range of 0.5 to 50 mu M with a detection limit of 30 nM. The influence of interference compounds namely 2-acetyl-6-methoxy naphthalene (AMN) on naproxen oxidation can also be followed successfully. Moreover, the percentage of AMN present in the standard chemical form of a mixture containing naproxen can be found accurately. Rapidity, precise and good selectivity were also found for the determination of naproxen in pharmaceutical formulations.