A Novel Highly Sensitive Derivatization-Free Spectrofluorimetric Approach for Analysis of the Antifungal Terconazole in Dosage Forms, Biological Fluids, and Environmental Water Samples: Assessment of Greenness and Blueness Profiles

Abstract

In the current study, the triazole antifungal terconazole (TRZ) was determined using a novel, extremely sensitive, and environmentally friendly spectrofluorimetric approach. A methanolic solution of TRZ exhibited strong native fluorescence at 373 nm when excited at 241 nm. With a correlation coefficient of 0.9999, a straight-lined calibration curve was produced over the concentration range of 5.0–600.0 ng/mL. With quantification and detection limits of 4.64 and 1.53 ng/mL, respectively, the developed approach showed ultrasensitivity reaching the nanogram scale. Due to its great sensitivity, the method could successfully estimate TRZ in human plasma samples with low %RSD values and high recoveries (98.31–101.66). The method was also effectively used to analyze the TRZ in its vaginal suppositories and creams without interference from existing excipients. With satisfactory results, the method's applicability was expanded to the analysis of TRZ in environmental water samples. Two distinct green metrics, AGSA and MoGAPI, were applied to validate the approach's greenness profile and eco-friendliness. The method's applicability and economic feasibility were also verified using the BAGI tool. According to ICHQ2 (R2) criteria, the proposed approach underwent complete validation. This work introduced the first spectrofluorimetric method for TRZ analysis, enabling its usage in pharmacological, biological, and environmental monitoring.