Applicability of UV-laser-induced solid-state fluorescence spectroscopy for the characterization solid dosage forms

High production output of solid pharmaceutical formulations requires fast methods to ensure their quality. Likewise, fast analytical procedures are required in forensic sciences, for example at customs, to substantiate an initial suspicion. We here present the design and the optimization of an instrumental setup for rapid and non-invasive characterization of tablets by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (with a UV-laser (λ ex = 266 nm) as excitation source) in reflection geometry. The setup was first validated with regard to repeatability, bleaching phenomena, and sensitivity. The effect on the spectra by the physical and chemical properties of the samples, e.g. their hardness, homogeneity, chemical composition, and granule grain size of the uncompressed material, using a series of tablets, manufactured in accordance with design of experiments, was investigated. Investigation of tablets with regard to homogeneity, especially, is extremely important in pharmaceutical production processes. We demonstrate that multiplicative scatter correction is an appropriate tool for data preprocessing of fluorescence spectra. Tablets with different physical and chemical characteristics can be discriminated well from their fluorescence spectra by subjecting the results to principal component analysis.Fil: Woltmann, Eva. Central Institute for Engineering, Electronics and Analytics: Analytics (ZEA-3); AlemaniaFil: Meyer, Hans. J&M Analytik AG; AlemaniaFil: Weigel, Diana. Federal Criminal Police Office, Forensic Science Institute, KT 34 – Toxicology; AlemaniaFil: Pritzke, Heinz. Glatt Systemtechnik GmbH; AlemaniaFil: Posch, Tjorben N.. Central Institute for Engineering, Electronics and Analytics: Analytics (ZEA-3); AlemaniaFil: Kler, Pablo Alejandro. Universität Tübingen. Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls ; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones En Metodos Computacionales. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Centro de Investigaciones En Metodos Computacionales; Argentina. Central Institute for Engineering, Electronics and Analytics: Analytics (ZEA-3); AlemaniaFil: Schürmann, Klaus. LabCognition Analytical Software GmbH & Co. KG; AlemaniaFil: Roscher, Jörg. Universität Münster. Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms; AlemaniaFil: Huhn, Carolin. Universität Tübingen. Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls ; Alemania. Central Institute for Engineering, Electronics and Analytics: Analytics (ZEA-3); Alemani