Development and validation of stability indicating spectrophotometric methods for determination of oxcarbazepine in pharmaceuticals

Two simple, selective and stability indicating UV-spectrophotometric methods have been developed and validated for assay of oxcarbazepine (OXC) in bulk drug and in its dosage forms. Proposed methods are based on measurement of absorbance of OXC either in methanol (method A) or in acetonitrile (method B) at 254 nm. Calibration graphs are linear over 2-40 mu g ml(-1) in both methods with correlation coefficients (r) 0.9993 (method A) and 0.9999 (method B). Apparent molar absorptivity values were 6.73 x 10(3) (method A) and 6.95 x 10(3) l mol(-1) cm(-1) (method B). This study indicated that OXC was degraded in alkaline medium. Proposed methods were successfully applied to determination of OXC in tablets and results are comparable with reported method.