Flow‐injection chemiluminescence and electrogenerated chemiluminescence determination of escitalopram oxalate in tablet form

Rapid, simple and highly sensitive flow‐injection (FI) chemiluminescence (CL) and flow‐injection electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) methods were developed for the determination of escitalopram oxalate (ESC), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used as an antidepressant drug. The CL method was based on the CL reaction of ESC with acidic cerium(IV) and tris(2,2'‐bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru). Various experimental parameters affecting CL intensity were carefully studied and optimised. The method enabled the determination of 0.001‐50 µg/mL of ESC in bulk form with a correlation coefficient r = 0.9999. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.01 ng/mL (S/N = 3). The ECL method was based on the ECL reaction of Ru with the drug in an acidic medium, permitting the determination of ESC in the range of 0.00001‐70 µg/mL with r = 0.9999 and LOD of 1 x 10^‐4 ng/mL. The proposed methods were applied to the determination of ESC in commercial tablets. The results were compared statistically with those obtained from a published method using t‐ and F‐tests. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.