Three simple, sensitive and robust kinetic spectrophotometric methods for the determination of a novel lipophilic thiol compound, N-acetyl-L-cysteine ethyl ester (NACET), have been developed and validated. The methods are based on the reduction of Cu(II)-ligand complex to Cu(I)-ligand complex with the analyte. Studied ligands were neocuproine, bicinchoninic acid (BCA) and bathocuproine disulfonic acid (BCS). The development of chromogenic complexes was followed using kinetic setup with spectrophotometric detection at 458, 562 and 483 nm for the reactions of NACET with neocuproine, BCA and BCS, respectively. The calculated reaction orders with respect to NACET concentration were found to be 1.07, 1.01, 1.07, respectively, thus confirming a first order of reaction. The initial rate and fixed time methods were utilized for constructing calibration curves. Assays limits of detection were 1.4 × 10 -7 , 3.2 × 10 −7 and 6.0 × 10 −8 mol L -1 , respectively. The analytical performance of the methods, in terms of accuracy and precision, was established.

A new flow injection spectrophotometric method for the determination of N-acetyl-l-cysteine ethyl ester (NACET) was developed and validated. The method is based on the reduction of Cu(II)-ligand complexes to chromophoric Cu(I)-ligand complexes with the analyte. The studied ligands were neocuproine (NCN), bicinchoninic acid (BCA) and bathocuproine disulfonic acid (BCS). The absorbance of the Cu(I)-ligand complex was measured at 458, 562 and 483 nm for the reactions of NACET with NCN, BCA and BCS, respectively. The method was validated in terms of linear dynamic range, limit of detection and quantitation, accuracy, selectivity, and precision. Experimental conditions were optimized by a univariate method, yielding linear calibration curves in a concentration range from 2.0 × 10−6 mol L−1 to 2.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 using NCN; 2.0 × 10−6 mol L−1 to 1.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 using BCA and 6.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 to 1.2 × 10−4 mol L−1 using BCS. The achieved analytical frequency was 90 h−1 for all three ligands. The method was successfully employed for NACET determination in pharmaceutical preparations, indicating that this FIA method fulfilled all the essential demands for the determination of NACET in quality control laboratories, as it combined low instrument and reagent costs with a high sampling rate.