First electrochemical evaluation of favipiravir used as an antiviral option in the treatment of COVID-19: A study of its enhanced voltammetric determination in cationic surfactant media using a boron-doped diamond electrode.

Favipiravir, a promising antiviral agent, is undergoing clinical trials for the potential treatment of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is the first report for the electrochemical activity of favipiravir and its electroanalytical sensing. For this purpose, the effect of cationic surfactant, CTAB was demonstrated on the enhanced accumulation of favipiravir at the surface of cathodically pretreated boron-doped diamond (CPT-BDD) electrode. At first, the electrochemical properties of favipiravir were investigated in the surfactant-free solutions by the means of cyclic voltammetry. The compound presented a single oxidation step which is irreversible and adsorption controlled. A systematic study of various operational conditions, such as electrode pretreatment, pH of the supporting electrolyte, concentration of CTAB, accumulation variables, and instrumental parameters on the adsorptive stripping response, was examined using square-wave voltammetry. An oxidation signal at around +1.21 V in Britton-Robinson buffer at pH 8.0 containing 6 × 10-4 M CTAB allowed to the adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination of favipiravir (after 60 s accumulation step at open-circuit condition). The process could be used in the concentration range with two linear segments of 0.01-0.1 µg mL-1 (6.4 × 10-8-6.4 × 10-7 M) and 0.1-20.0 µg mL-1 (6.4 × 10-7-1.3 × 10-4 M). The limit of detection values were found to be 0.0028 µg mL-1 (1.8 × 10-8 M), and 0.023 µg mL-1 (1.5 × 10-7 M) for the first and second segments of calibration graph, respectively. The feasibility of developed methodology was tested to the analysis of the commercial tablet formulations and model human urine samples.

Electrooxidation of tetracycline antibiotic demeclocycline at unmodified boron-doped diamond electrode and its enhancement determination in surfactant-containing media.

In this paper, for the first time, the study of voltammetric determination of tetracycline antibiotic demeclocycline was conducted. The oxidation of compound was investigated using a commercially available boron-doped diamond electrode pretreated electrochemically (anodic and subsequent cathodic). Addition of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to the demeclocycline-containing electrolyte solution at pH 2.0 and 9.0, respectively, was found to improve the sensitivity of the stripping voltammetric measurements. Employing square-wave stripping mode (after 30 s accumulation at open-circuit condition) in Britton-Robinson buffer, the limits of detection were found to be 1.17 µg mL-1 (2.3 × 10-6 M) for 4 × 10-4 SDS-containing buffer solution at pH 2, and 0.24 µg mL-1 (4.8 × 10-7 M) for 1 × 10-4 CTAB-containing buffer solution at pH 9.0. The feasibility of the developed approach for the quantification of demeclocycline was tested in urine samples.