NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL POWDERBLENDS

Near-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopy was used to qualitatively assess the homogeneity of a typical direct compression pharmaceutical powder blend consisting of hydrochlorothiazide, fast-flo lactose, croscarmell ose sodium, and magnesium stearate. Near-IR diffuse reflectance spectr a were collected from thieved powder samples using a grating-based spe ctrometer. A second-derivative calculation and principal component ana lysis were performed on the spectra prior to qualitative evaluation. B lend homogeneity was determined using single- and multiple-sample boot strap algorithms and traditional chi-square analysis. The results sugg ested that bootstrap techniques provided greater sensitivity for asses sing blend homogeneity than chi-square calculations and that near-IR h as great potential as an analytical tool in powder blend analysis.