NOVEL ZERO ORDER UV-SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC AND FIRST ORDER DERIVATIVE UV-AUC METHODS FOR ESTIMATION OF ETOMIDATE IMPARTING HYDROTROPIC SOLUBLIZATION

Simple, novel UV-spectrophotometric methods have been developed and validated for the estimation of etomidate imparting a hydrotropic solublization phenomenon. Etomidate is an imidazole derivative, approved as a short acting intravenous anesthetic having poor water solubility. As the UV-spectrophotometric estimation was not seen in any published literature, we have reported it here; zero order UV-spectrophotometry (Method I) and First Order Derivative UV-spectrophotometry (Method II) with the application of hydrotropy to counteract the poor water solubility of etomidate. The present research endeavour utilizes propylene glycol (PG) (2% v/v with distilled water) as the hydrotropic agent for the UV-spectrophotometric determination of etomidate. The drug was found to be stable in solution form with the aforementioned hydrotropic agent. Method I was carried out by measuring absorbance at λmax of 243.40 nm whilst for Method II, a uniform area between 245.40 - 268.40 nm was measured and plotted against concentration. The linearity range was obeyed to be in between 4 - 24 μg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for both the developed methods. The non - interference of a hydrotropic agent ensures the specificity for proposed methods. The mean recovery of 99.60 (Method I) and 100.28 (Method II) reflects accuracy for developed methods. The method precision results were found to be within limit; expressed in % RSD; no more than 2.0%. The developed UV-spectrophotometric methods for the estimation of etomidate are simple, less time consuming and eco-friendly. The developed methods were validated according to ICH guidelines and proved statistically accurate, precise and sensitive, which can be extended to a routine determination of etomidate in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations.