Development and Validation of Voltammetric Method for Quantitation of New Antiviral Drug Triazavirin using Bare Carbon Screen-Printed Electrodes

Bare carbon screen-printed electrode based on carbon ink Electrodag 407C was used for quantitation of the new Russian anti-influenza drug Triazavirin. For the first time it was established that an electrochemical activity of an active substance of the drug (sodium salt of 2-methylthio-6-nitro-1,2,4-triazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazin-7-one, dihydrate, triazavirin) is caused by electrochemical reduction of a nitro group bonded to a conjugated aromatic system. The effect of voltammetric mode, pH of electrolyte, scan rate, time and potential of preliminary accumulation on the current of triazavirin reduction were studied. A quick, simple and “green” method for triazavirin determination using a direct square wave cathodic voltammetry was developed. The peak current obtained was linearly related to triazavirin concentration in the range of 0.1 to 180 mg L-1 with correlation coefficient of 0.9996. Good analytical performance was achieved with a detection limit of 0.04 mg L-1, a repeatability of 1.0% and an intermediate precision ˂2%. The developed method was validated and applied for the analysis of Triazavirin capsules. Found values are close to the claimed content and are in good agreement with the results of the HPLC method.