Highly sensitive colorimetric determination of amoxicillin in pharmaceutical formulations based on induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles.

A novel, simple and highly sensitive colorimetric method is developed for determination of Amoxicillin (AMX). The system is based on aggregation of citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNP) in acetate buffer (pH=4.5) in the presence of the degradation product of Amoxicillin (DPAMX). It was found that the color of gold nanoparticles changed from red to purple and the intensity of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of AuNPs decreased. A new absorption band was appeared in the wavelength range of 600-700nm upon addition of DPAMX. The absorbance ratio at the wavelength of 660 and 525nm (A660/A525) was chosen as the analytical signal indirectly related to AMX concentration. The linearity of the calibration graph was found over the concentration range of 0.3-4.5μM AMX with a correlation coefficient of 0.9967. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limit was found to be 0.15μM. The applicability of the method was successfully demonstrated by analysis of AMX in pharmaceutical formulations including capsules and oral suspensions.