Simultaneous determination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid using MPA-capped AgInS2 quantum dots: A fluorescence-based chemometric approach

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2026

Authors

Castro, RC (Author) Other; Pascoa, RNMJ (Author) Other; Joao L M Santos (Author) FFUP; Ribeiro, DSM (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy

Vol. 350

ISSN: 1386-1425

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-01B-0XC

DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2026.127457

Abstract (EN): Due to the widespread clinical use of their co-formulated form, the simultaneous and accurate determination of amoxicillin (AMX) and clavulanic acid (CLA) in pharmaceutical formulations is essential, calling for the development of simple, rapid, cost-effective, and reliable analytical methodologies. Therefore, an innovative and novel spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the simultaneous determination of both AMX and CLA in pharmaceutical formulations based on a multiplexed detection, using AgInS2quantum dots (QDs) capped with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as a PL probe, combined with chemometrics. Several QDs were synthesised and evaluated to achieve the highest sensitivity towards both analytes. Different interaction mechanisms were observed for each analyte. A full factorial experimental design was employed to ensure robust results and assess the main effects and their interactions of both analytes. The acquired kinetic fluorescence data were modelled using an unfolded partial least squares (U-PLS) model. The optimisation of the U-PLS models involved the study of different spectral regions. This methodology revealed that the entire spectral region yielded the best results, with accuracies of 2 % and 11 % for AMX and CLA, respectively, in terms of the relative error of prediction (REP). Moreover, this method was compared with the official USP chromatographic method, and no statistically significant differences were observed, thereby validating the precision and reliability of the developed method. This simple, rapid, and cost-effective analytical methodology can serve as a valuable alternative to the official chromatographic method, eliminating the need for toxic solvents.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 14