Assay preparation
Using a plastic syringe equipped with a suitable cannula, transfer an accurately weighed quantity of Cream, equivalent to about 3 mg of clocortolone pivalate, to a 50-mL volumetric flask. Add about 25 mL of methanol, and warm the flask in a 60
water bath for about 10 minutes, with occasional swirling, to disperse the Cream. Cool to room temperature, dilute with methanol to volume, and mix. Allow any insoluble material to settle.
Procedure
Transfer 10.0 mL of the
Standard preparation to a 25-mL volumetric flask. Transfer 10.0-mL portions of the
Assay preparation into two separate 25-mL volumetric flasks labeled
Assay preparation and
Assay blank, respectively. Evaporate the contents of the three flasks with the aid of a stream of air or nitrogen to dryness. Transfer 20.0 mL of a solution containing 250 mg of isoniazid and 0.3 mL of hydrochloric acid in 500 mL of methanol to the flasks containing the
Standard preparation, the
Assay preparation, and a fourth 25-mL volumetric flask labeled
Reagent blank. Pipet 20 mL of acidified methanol solution (0.3 mL of hydrochloric acid diluted with methanol to 500 mL) into the flask labeled
Assay blank. Insert the stoppers securely in the flasks, and place in a water bath at 60
for 2.5 hours, occasionally swirling the contents of each flask. Cool the flasks to room temperature, dilute with the acidified methanol solution to volume, and mix. Centrifuge the
Assay preparation at high speed for 10 minutes. Concomitantly determine the absorbances of the
Standard preparation, the
Assay preparation, the
Assay blank, and the
Reagent blank against acidified methanol solution as the solvent blank in 1-cm cells at the wavelength of maximum absorbance at about 390 nm, with a suitable spectrophotometer. Calculate the quantity, in mg, of C
27H
36ClFO
5 in the portion of Cream taken by formula:
50C(AU / AS),
in which
C is the concentration, in mg per mL, of
USP Clocortolone Pivalate RS in the
Standard preparation;
AU is the absorbance of the
Assay preparation, corrected for the
Assay blank and the
Reagent blank; and
AS is the absorbance of the
Standard preparation corrected for the
Reagent blank.