First derivative spectrophotometric determination of strychnine and brucine in nux vomica liquid extract.

A simple, rapid, and accurate method is presented for determining strychnine and brucine in nux vomica liquid extract. The 2 alkaloids are directly extracted from the alkaline liquid extract with 0.1N H2SO4, and the liberated alkaloids are determined separately using first derivative spectrophotometry. The minimum strychnine and brucine concentrations detectable by means of this method are 3.0 micrograms/mL. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of 3 batches of nux vomica liquid extract.