Alternative and improved method for the simultaneous determination of fexofenadine and pseudoephedrine in their combined tablet formulation

An alternative method for the determination of fexofenadine (FEX) and pseudoephedrine (PSE) in their combined tablet formulation has been developed, employing the partial least squares (PLS) analysis of spectral data of the analytes in their pharmaceutical association. A full-factorially designed set of 16 synthetic samples was employed for calibration purposes. The calibration models were constructed with wavelengths selection, in the ultraviolet region, according to their predictive ability. These were validated internally by the leave-one-out procedure and externally, employing appropriate sets of validation samples. The described method was linear for both analytes, over the range 160.6–301.2 mg L−1 for FEX (R2 = 0.9993) and between 325.6 and 610.5 mg L−1 for PSE (R2 = 0.9992). It was accurate, exhibiting 99.8% and 99.9% drug recoveries for FEX and PSE, respectively (N = 9), while in the intermediate precision experiment relative standard deviations were 1.4% for FEX and 1.2% for PSE.The contents of both analytes were assayed in commercial tablets employing this method and the results were compared with those furnished by HPLC, being in good statistical agreement. The method represents an improvement over the first derivative of spectral ratio (DSR) technique and allows high sample throughput with minimum reagent consumption and waste generation. The obtained results confirm that the method is highly suitable for its intended purpose.