Voltammetric quantitation at the mercury electrode of the anticholinergic drug flavoxate hydrochloride in bulk and in a pharmaceutical formulation

Flavoxate hydrochloride, 2-piperidinoethyl 3-methyl-4-oxo-2-phenyl-4-H-chromene-8-carboxylate, is a smooth muscle antispasmodic. Its electrochemical behavior was studied at the mercury electrode in buffered solutions containing 30% (v/v) methanol using dc-polarography, differential-pulse polarography, cyclic voltammetry, and linear sweep-and square-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry. Sensitive and precise procedures were developed for determination of bulk flavoxate hydrochloride and in the pharmaceutical formulation Genurin® S.F, without sample pretreatment or extraction. Limits of quantitation (LOQ) of 1 × 10−5, 5 × 10−6, 1 × 10−8 and 1 × 10−9 M flavoxate hydrochloride were achieved by dc-polarography, differential-pulse polarography, linear sweep and square-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetric, respectively.