Design and Construction of a Naltrexone Selective Sensor Based on Computational Study for Application in Pharmaceutical Analysis

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, which has been used for treatment of alcoholism and opiate dependence. In this study, the electronic and geometric properties of Naltrexone, sodium tetraphenyl borate and their complexes were studied by computational methods. Then, Naltrexone-tetraphenylborate complexes were employed as ion pair in construction of a potentiometric liquid membrane sensor for simple and fast determination of Naltrexone hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulation and urine. The wide linear range (10-5-10-2 mol L-1), low detection limit (8.0×10-6 mol L-1), and fast response time (~10 s) are characterizations of the proposed sensors. Validation of the method shows suitability of the sensors for application in the quality control analysis of naltrexone hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulation. Also, the agreement mutually verifies the accuracy of experimental method and the validity of computational calculations