Electrochemical Behaviour of Carbamazepine in Acetonitrile and Dimethylformamide Using Glassy Carbon Electrodes and Microelectrodes

The electrochemical reduction of carbamazepine in acetonitrile (ACN) and dimethylformamide (DMF) using a glassy carbon electrode and microelectrodes has been studied. The reduction process is consistent with an electrochemical-chemical mechanism (EC) involving a two electron transfer followed by a first order reaction, as shown by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Half-wave potential, number of electron transferred, diffusion coefficient and rate constant of the associated chemical reaction are reported. Limits of detection (LOD) for DPV are 0.92 and 0.76 mg mL(-1) (3.89 x 10(-6) mol L-1 and 3.21 x 10(-6) mol L-1) in ACN and DMF, respectively. Precision (% RSD) and recovery (%) values when pharmaceutical compounds (200mg carbamazepine tablets) and spiked plasma samples were tested ranged from 1.09 to 9.04% and % recoveries ranged from 96 to 104.1%.