Use of cerium (IV) in the spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric determinations of penicillins and cephalosporins in their pharmaceutical preparations

Spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric procedures for the quantitative determination of four penicillins [Amoxycillin (AMX), Bacampicillin (BAC), Piperacillin (PPN) and Sultamcillin (SULT)] and ten cephalosporins [Cefadroxil (CDL), Cefamandole nafate (MAN), Cefuroxime axetil or sodium (CFX), Cefaclor (CFCR), Ceftazidime (CZD), Ceftizoxime (CTIZ), Ceftriaxone (CTRX), Cefoperazone (CPZ), Cefixime (CXIM) and Cefpodoxime proxetil (CFPD)] are described. Both methods are based on the acidic oxidation of the antibiotics with cerium (IV) at elevated temperature. The effect of the reagent concentration, volume of the acid, and the heating temperature were studied to optimize the reaction conditions. Each antibiotic was determined by either measuring the absorbance difference at 317 nm or the cerous inherent fluorescence at 256 and 356 nm for excitation and emission wavelengths, respectively. The two procedures have been successfully applied to the assay of these antibiotics in their pharmaceutical dosage forms. The obtained results have been statistically compared with those obtained by the official methods.