Determination of flufenamic acid and mefenamic acid in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids using flow injection analysis with tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence detection

A novel chemiluminescent method using flow injection has been investigated for the rapid and sensitive determination of flufenamic and mefenamic acids. The method is based on a tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence reaction. Ru(bipy)(3)(3+) is chemically generated by mixing two streams containing solutions of tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) and acidic cerium(IV) sulphate. After selecting the best operating parameters calibration graphs were obtained over the concentration ranges 0.07-6.0 and 0.05-6.0 mu g ml(-1) for flufenamic acid and mefenamic acid, respectively. The Limits of detection (s/n = 3) were 3.6 x 10(-9) M flufenamic acid and 2.1 x 10(-7) M mefenamic acid. The method was successfully applied to the determination of these compounds in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids. A proposal for the reaction pathway was given. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V, All rights reserved.