Determination of possible impurities in piracetam using FTIR spectroscopy

Piracetam (2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide (PAm)) may contain some structural ly related impurities deriving from synthesis or degradation, mainly 2-oxo- 1-pyrrolidine acetic acid (PAc). A rapid and sensitive Fourier transform in frared (FTIR) spectrophotometric method was developed for determination of possible impurities in piracetam. The results showed that the method was ef fective for the simultaneous determination of PAc in piracetam by FTIR spec trophotometry and may be a real alternative to HPLC. The apparent spectral resolution was first enhanced by using the Fourier self-deconvolution (FSD) method and the profiles were then fully deconvoluted by using a curve fitt ing procedure. FSD method followed by curve fitting allowed to evaluate qua ntitatively the areas under the pyrrolidine acetic acid peaks. Mixtures of known composition were used as standards to minimise errors due to the pres ence of both compounds in the same mixture. The detection limit of pyrrolid ine acetic acid was estimated to be 0.1% with respect to piracetam. (C) 200 0 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.