Abstract

Antibiotics are an important class among drugs because they are a significant agent to deal with infections. Cephalosporins are a very important group of antibiotics in the β-lactam class. The cephalosporins are semisynthetic antibiotics derived from products of the fungus Cephalosporium. Cephalosporins are classified as first, second, third, fourth, and advanced generation, based largely on their antibacterial spectrum and stability to β-lactamases. Electrochemical methods have been used for the determination of cephalosporin just as used in the determination of many antibiotic drugs. Electroanalytical methods present generally high sensitivity, low cost, low requirements, ease of preparation of the samples in a very short time, and a short analysis time. The most commonly used types are cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, square wave voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The aim of this review is to evaluate the advantages and uses of electroanalytical methods used in the determination of cephalosporins. In addition, current applications of the methods to the pharmaceutical analysis of cephalosporins will also be summarized in a table.

Keywords: Cephalosporins, electroanalytical methods, voltammetry, drug analysis, antibiotics, β-lactamases.