Determination of phenolic compounds in medicinal preparations by galvanostatic coulometry

In this work, the possibility of using reactions of electrogenerated titrants with phenolic compounds was studied and a method for their coulometric determination in medicaments by galvanostatic coulometry was developed. The research objects were: rutin, salicylic acid and drugs containing phenolic compounds such as «Ascorutin», «Salicylic Paste» and «Salicylic Ointment» of Russian manufacture. Electrogenerated halogens (Cl2, Br2 and I2) and hexacyanoferrate(III)-ions were used as titrants. It was found that for the quantitative determination of phenolic acids, the optimal reagent is electrogenerated bromine, for rutin - electrogenerated bromine and iodine, and for ascorbic acid - any of the studied electrogenerated titrants (Cl2, Br2, I2 and [Fe(CN)6]3-). The correct definition was checked by the «entered-found» method, the error does not exceed 2%. As experimental studies have shown, our method of coulometric titration with electrogenated bromine and iodine is characterized by good reproducibility of results, expression, accuracy and can be used to determine phenolic compounds in drugs, for example, «Ascorutin» tablets. It should be noted that by our procedure it is possible to determine the spectrum of phenol-containing compounds (rutin, ascorbic and salicylic acids) in drugs without their preliminary separation. Therefore, the coulometric method using electrogenerated titrants can be recommended for the determination of salicylic, ascorbic acids and rutin in dosage forms. The proposed method is accurate and eliminates the experiment error in comparison with the Pharmacopoeic method.