Fluorimetric determination of sulphathiazole in honey by means the formation of CDs inclusion complexes

The inclusion complex of sulphathiazole in β-cyclodextrin has been investigated. A 1:2 stoichiometry of the complex was established and formation constants K2 (42.83 ± 3.27 M−1) and K1 (4.98 ± 0.36 M−1) were calculated by using the changes produced on the native fluorescence of the drug, when included on the hydrophobic cyclodextrin cavity. An enhancement in the fluorescence emission of sulphathiazole and protection of the drug against photochemical reactions has been attained upon inclusion. In solutions of β-CD dual emission (458 nm) was noticed in STZ. Formation of the inclusion complex of STZ should result in dual emission, which is due to a twisted intramolecular charge transfer band (TICT). A fluorimetric method for the determination of sulphathiazole has been proposed and applied in honey without sample treatment. The optimized fluorimetric method showed detection and quantitation limits of 9.74 ng/g and 32.48 ng/g, respectively. Selectivity is high, showing no cross-reactivity to other chemically related antibiotics. The results obtained for blind honey samples (mean recovery 97%), were in good agreement with those obtained by liquid chromatography separation and mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS) (mean recovery 102%), showing that the proposed method might be used for the determination of sulphathiazole residues without expensive equipment.