Abstract
A method is described for the colorimetric determination of oxazolam, 10-chloro-2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11b-hexahydro-2-methyl-11b-phenylbenzo [6, 7]-1, 4-diazepino [5, 4-b] oxazol-6-one, in pharmaceutical preparations, aqueous solution, urine, and blood serum. Oxazolam was hydrolysed with hydrochloric acid to 2-amino-5-chlorobenzophenone which was colored by the Bratton-Marshall method and the diazo dye was extracted with n-butanol. Color of the azo pigment was stable and absorbance of the solution was measured at 545 mμ. This colorimetric determination was suitable for routine use and has a detectability of 0.5-10μg/ml, it has a very acceptable recovery and reproducibility of the order of 98.5% from aqueous solution, 94.7% from urine, and 100.8% from blood serum. From these results, it was considered that this method can be applied as a reliable determination of oxazolam in forensic chemistry.
