Adsorptive stripping voltammetric behaviour of mitoxantrone on mercury electrodes.

The electrochemical behaviour of mitoxantrone (MXT), an important antineoplastic agent, has been studied at mercury electrodes. The nature of the process taking place at the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was clarified. The electrochemical behaviour observed was in close agreement with theoretical predictions for an adsorbed molecule which is reversibly reduced. Both the molecule and its reduced product appeared to be adsorbed at the surface of the electrode. Adsorptive stripping voltammetry has been proven to be advantageous over any other assay technique, allowing 5 x 10(-11)M MXT to be detected. The interference arising from surfactants competing for the adsorption sites at the electrode have been studied and the possibility of MXT determination in dilute urine samples has been shown. Some interesting data, such as the MXT adsorbing surface area and the kinetic constant of the associated coupled chemistry reaction were also determined.