Samantha Gibson, Zahilis Mazzochette, J Chege2, Helen K Kahi, Geoffrey N Kamau, Amos Mugweru
Methyl [5-propylthio-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl]carbamate (albendazole) is widely used as anthelmintic for the control of gastrointestinal and lung nematodes. The efficacy of this drug is believed to be partly due to the formation of albendazole sulfoxide (ASOX) and oxfendazole (OFZ) in-vivo. Electrochemical oxidation characteristics of albendazole was investigated on a glassy carbon electrode in tetrabutyl ammonium bromide in acetonitrile solution. The non-reversible oxidation of albendazole showed an apparent standard heterogeneous rate constant for electron transfer (kh) 1.39 × 104 S-1 cm2. The value of the electron transfer coefficient (αn) was found to be 0.652. The diffusion coefficient (D) was calculated and found to be 7.12 × 10-8 cm/s. The electrochemical oxidation products at different potentials yielded ASOX and albendazole sulfone (ASON) as determined using chromatography.
