Electrochemical Discrimination of Salbutamol from Its Excipients in VentolinTM at Nanoporous Gold Microdisc Arrays

Abstract

The emergence of specific drug–device combination products in the inhalable pharmaceutical industry demands more sophistication of device functionality in the form of an embedded sensing platform to increase patient safety and extend patent coverage. Controlling the nebuliser function at a miniaturised, integrated electrochemical sensing platform with rapid response time and supporting novel algorithms could deliver such a technology offering. Development of a nanoporous gold (NPG) electrochemical sensor capable of creating a unique fingerprint signal generated by inhalable pharmaceuticals provided the impetus for our study of the electrooxidation of salbutamol, which is the active bronchodilatory ingredient in VentolinTM formulations. It was demonstrated that, at NPG-modified microdisc electrode arrays, salbutamol is distinguishable from the chloride excipient present at 0.0154 M using linear sweep voltammetry and can be detected amperometrically. In contrast, bare gold microdisc electrode arrays cannot afford such discrimination, as the potential for salbutamol oxidation and chloride adsorption reactions overlap. The discriminative power of NPG originates from the nanoconfinement effect for chloride in the internal pores of NPG, which selectively enhances the electron transfer kinetics of this more sluggish reaction relative to that of the faster, diffusion-controlled salbutamol oxidation. Sensing was performed at a fully integrated three-electrode cell-on-chip using Pt as a quasi-reference electrode.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Salbutamol Sulphate and Isoxsuprine Hydrochloride in Pharmaceutical Formulations

“…Various analytical methods and techniques have been used to determine the above salbutamol, and isoxsuprine, in pure form and pharmaceutical dosage including spectrophotometric 6-9 , electrochemical techniques [10][11][12][13][14] and HPLC methods [15][16][17][18] . The aim of the present work is to develop a very simple, rapid, accurate, precise, sensitive and less time consuming quantitative determination of salbutamol and isoxsuprine in pure form and pharmaceutical dosage.…”

State-of-the-Art Sensors Research in Ireland

“…Nagle et al [11] present the development of a nanoporous gold (NPG) electrochemical sensor, capable of creating a unique fingerprint signal generated by inhalable pharmaceuticals, which provided the impetus for a study on the electrooxidation of salbutamol, the active bronchodilatory ingredient in Ventolin TM formulations. It was demonstrated that, in NPG-modified microdisc electrode arrays, salbutamol is distinguishable from the chloride excipient present at 0.0154 M using linear sweep voltammetry, and can be detected amperometrically.…”

Development of CuO nanoparticles modified electrochemical sensor for detection of salbutamol

“…Salbutamol sulfate is the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in several commercially available quick-relief medication formulations. It is available under several brand names, including Ventolin TM [65]. The reason for using ventolin syrup as a source of Salbutamol is its easy availability.…”