A New Flame AAS Application for Magnesium Determination in Solid Pharmaceutical Preparations as an Active Ingredient and an Excipient

Objective: A new application of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) has been carried out to determine magnesium in its solid preparations (effervescent and uncoated compressed tablets) as an active ingredient and/or excipient.

Methodology: The linear range of magnesium was determined. A sample of magnesium effervescent tablets was analyzed. Magnesium stearate concentration was also indirectly determined in commercial paracetamol tablets using two digestion methods. Finally, a sample of drug-free tablets (only contain excipients) was analyzed to study the effect of talc on total magnesium content of the sample.

Results: Linear range was observed in concentrations between 0.08-0.40 ug/mL of magnesium. Effervescent tablets samples were recovered in the range between 98.66-103.00% which indicates that the product meets specifications. For paracetamol tablets, the content of magnesium stearate was in average of 0.2% and there is no differences between the two digestion methods (t=0.454). Our work on the drug-free sample proved a significant increase of magnesium concentrations in the presence of talc.

Conclusion: The AAS method is a simple and rapid technique that can be employed for the simultaneous estimation of magnesium in in-process and final products analyses.