FTIR and UV-Visible Spectrophotometric Derivatization Studies of Artemether

This study was aimed at confirmation of the purity and identity of the artemether and development of an ultraviolet spectrophotometric method for the assaying of artemether utilizing p-nitroaniline as a derivatizing agent. Melting point and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) methods were used to confirm the purity and identity of the artemether used in the study. The derivatization process was carried out between 100 µg/ml of the artemether and 500 µg/ml of p-nitroaniline in different molarities (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5M) of HCl at 60ºC for 45 mins. The melting point ranged between 86-89ºC and the FTIR determination revealed a band at 3169.978 cm-1 due to O-H stretching vibration and C-H stretching at 2996.039 cm-1. There was no observed difference in wavelength between the p-nitroaniline spectrum and the spectra of the derivatized products in different molarities of HCl. p-nitroaniline may not be a proper derivatization reagent for the assay of artemether in pure or dosage form.