Quantitative Fluorometric Determination of Panthenol in Multivitamin Preparations

A new procedure is described for the estimation of panthenol in a multivitamin preparation highly concentrated in sugar. The method involves the quantitative elimination of sugar by crystallization in the presence of ethanol, extraction of panthenol from the dry residue with chloroform, purification of the extract on ion-exchange resins, and final fluorometric determination of β-alanol after alkaline hydrolysis of the effluent. Fluorescence is developed by reaction of β-alanol with ninhydrin and n-butanal, for 45 minutes at 60° in the presence of carbonate buffer, pH 9.1. The fluorescent intensity measured at 465 mμ is proportional to the β-alanol concentration in the range between 0.1 and 1 mcg./ml.