A validated spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of citalopram in bulk and pharmaceutical preparations based on the measurement of the silver nanoparticles-enhanced fluorescence of citalopram/terbium complexes.

A simple, sensitive, and accurate spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of citalopram in bulk and pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the enhancement of the weak fluorescence signal (FL) of the Tb (III)-citalopram system in the presence of silver nanoparticles. Fluorescence intensities were measured at 555 nm after excitation at 281 nm. Prepared silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by UV-Visible spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Various factors affecting the formation of citalopram-Tb (III)-AgNPs complexes were studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity versus concentration plot was linear over the range 0.02-14 μg mL(-1), with an excellent correlation coefficient of 0.9978. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 7.15 × 10(-6) μg mL(-1) and 2.38 × 10(-5) μg mL(-1) respectively. The proposed method was found to have good reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of 3.66% (n = 6). The interference effects of common excipients found in pharmaceutical preparations were studied. The developed method was validated statistically by performing recoveries studies and successfully applied for the assay of citalopram in bulk powder and pharmaceutical preparations. Percent recoveries were found to range from 98.98% to 100.97% for bulk powder and from 96.57% to 101.77% for pharmaceutical preparations.