Degradation studies of azithromycin and its spectrophotometric determination in pharmaceutical dosage forms.

A simple, accurate and rapid spectrophotometric method for the estimation of azithromycin has been developed by the acidic hydrolysis of the drug with sulfuric acid and monitoring the absorbance at 482 nm. All variables affecting the reaction conditions such as sulfuric acid concentration, heating time, temperature and dilution solvents were carefully studied. Analytical parameters such as stability, selectivity, accuracy and precision have been established for the method and evaluated statistically to assess the application of the method. The method was applied successfully for the assay of azithromycin dihydrate in pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms as tablets, capsules and suspensions. The method was found to have the advantages for simplicity, stability, sensitivity, reproducibility and accuracy for using as an alternate to the existing non-spectrophotometric methods for the routine analysis of the drug in pharmaceutical formulations and also in pharmaceutical investigations involving azithromycin dihydrate.