Micelle-enhanced spectrofluorimetric method for the rapid determination of bronchodilator terbutaline and its prodrug bambuterol: application for content uniformity test

A novel, simple and sensitive spectrofluorimetric approach for determination of terbutaline sulphate (TER) and its prodrug bambuterol (BAM) in their pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms was developed. The suggested approach depends on enhancing the native fluorescence of either TER or BAM at 315 and 297.2 nm after excitation at 277 and 259 nm, respectively, using sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as a micellar medium. In the presence of 0.7% w/v SDS, ~1.38-fold and 1.18-fold enhancement is achieved in the relative fluorescence intensity (RFI) of TER and BAM, respectively. The fluorescence–concentration curves were rectilinear over the concentration range 0.8–16 μg ml⁻¹, with detection limits (LOD) of 0.252 and 0.26 (μg ml⁻¹), quantitation limits (LOQ) of 0.76 and 0.79 (μg ml⁻¹), determination coefficients (r2) of 0.9981, and slopes of 45.92 and 10.44 for TER and BAM, respectively. The suggested approach was validated in accordance with International Council for Harmonisation criteria and was effectively applied in the analysis of the studied drugs in their commercial tablets. The high sensitivity of the proposed approach allows its application in evaluating the content uniformity testing of the studied drugs in their tablets through using the official United States Pharmacopeia criteria. Statistical analogies of the findings with that of the reported methods showed really good harmony and indicated no major differences in precision and accuracy.