Cathodic stripping voltammetry of 5-fluorouracil

Abstract

An investigation has been carried out into the anodic differential-pulse polarographic and cathodic stripping voltammetric behaviour of the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil at mercury indicator electrodes. The anodic peak, corresponding to the formation of a mercury salt, has been used for the determination of the drug in formulations with a relative standard deviation of 0.5%. The cathodic stripping voltammetric behaviour of this mercury salt can be used to monitor 10–7–10–8M concentrations of 5-fluorouracil in a borax-HClO4 buffer, pH 7.8. The interference of Cl– with the cathodic stripping signals is only evident at concentrations of Cl– four orders of magnitude higher than the concentration of the drug and uric acid was found not to interfere at up to equal concentrations of 5-fluorouracil. The cathodic stripping method has been applied to the determination of 5-fluorouracil in human serum.