Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for determination of tricyclic antidepressant imipramine using FE-SC[N.sup.-] complex

A new simple procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of tricyclic antidepressant drug imipramine is proposed. The method is based on the enhancement of the colour intensity of the Fe(III) SC[N.sup.-]-complex due to the addition of the drug imipramine. The value of molar absorptivity of the Fe(III) SC[N.sup.-]-imipramine complex in terms of the drug lies in the range of (2.77-3.16) x [10.sup.3] L/mol cm at the absorption maximum 460 nm. The detection limit of the method was 250 µg/L. The slope, intercept, and correlation co-efficient for the present method were found to be 0.008, 0.005, and 0.998, respectively. The effect of analytical variables on the determination of the drug and the composition of the complex are discussed. The method is applicable to the determination of imipramine in the drug samples.