Spectrofluorometric determination of substituted tetrahydrocarbazoles by a methylene blue sensitized photolytic reaction.

A spectrofluorometric method was developed for the determination of 6-chloro-9-[2-(2-methyl-5-pyridyl)ethyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole-2-methanol hydrochloride and its carboxylic acid analog in blood and urine. It involves extraction of both compounds at neutral pH, either from blood into ethyl acetate (the residue of which is dissolved in either) or from urine directly into ether. Both the alcohol and the acid are separated from each other by selective extraction into acid or base, respectively, and then reextracted into either from the respective aqueous medium by appropriate pH adjustment. The residues of the ether extracts containing the compounds are dissolved separately in 0.25 N NH4OH. Methylene blue is added to all samples, which are then exposed to UV energy for 15 min to produce the fluorophores. The fluorescence of the solutions is read at 370 nm, with excitation at 340 nm. The linear range of quantitation of both compounds is 0.02-10 mug/each/ml of final solution. The method was applied to the determination of blood levels and urinary excretion of the alcohol and its acid metabolite in a dog.