Spectrophotometric determination of flunarizine dihydrochloride through the formation of charge-transfer complex with iodine.

A spectrophotometric method is described for the assay of flunarizine dihydrochloride. The method is based on the molecular interaction between the drug and iodine, to form a charge-transfer complex in which the drug acts as n-donor and iodine as sigma-acceptor. The iodine was found to form charge-transfer complex in a 1:1 stoichiometry with absorption bands at 295 and 355 nm. The concentrations were linear over 8-13 micrograms ml-1 at both 295 and 355 nm, respectively. A complete, detailed investigation of the formed complex was made with respect to its composition, associated constant and free energy change. The method has been applied successfully to the analysis of commercially available flunarizine dihydrochloride capsules without interference from the capsules excipient. To validate the proposed method, its accuracy and precision, the results were statistically compared with a newly developed reversed-phase HPLC procedure using Student-t and F-ratio tests.