| dc.description.abstract | This research was focused <;mthe analysis of selected human drugs and herbal medicines using
using surface modified /derivatized electrodes, where the working electrode surface was
modified using the chemical substrate of interest.
Inthe study, the following drugs with antimalarial properties were analyzed: quinine,
Sulfadoxine+ Pyrimethamine, 2-sulfanilamido-3-methoxypyrazine+Pyrimethamine, halofantrine
hydrochloride, and lumefantrine+artemether, which are the most commonly used in the
management of malaria in Africa. Other drugs were amoxil (an antibiotic) and paracetamol (an
analgesic). Analysis on cinchona tree extract and an herbal antimalarial, malbet was also done.
The electrochemical technique used is cyclic voltammetry. The potential of the electrode was
varied with the potential window ranging from -O.4Vto a selected upper limit. The scan rate was
variable but mostly 20mV/sec. The mechanistic pathways of the oxidation/reduction of the
different drugs studied have been proposed and analysis on the effect of pH on the oxidation
potential conducted.
In an attempt to see whether the nature of the host matrix will improve the redox activity of the
drugs studied, experiments were conducted on carbon electrode surface with different host
matrices e.g bentonite, polyaniline, polythiophene, and the drug itself.
Interaction of the pharmaceutical preparations with other substances was considered. This
included acetylsalicylic acid and nicotinic femiplan, folic acid, vitamin C, milk, tea, glycerine,
hydrocortisone, paracetamol, methionine, arginine, tyrosine and leucine.
Therole of metal ion catalysis on the redox process has also been investigated. The metal ions
studied included Co2+,Zn2+,Cu2+,and Snz+adsorbed on the bentonite modified carbon graphite
working electrode.
The results obtained show that surface modified electrode technique can be used as a diagnostic
tool in the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations and herbal medicines. | en |
