Electrochemical reduction behaviour of clonazepam has been carried out, by employing d.c. polarography, cyclic voltammetry, a.c. polarography and differential pulse polarography in the supporting electrolytes of the pH ranging from 2.0 to 12.0. The two - step reduction waves are found to be irreversible and diffusion controlled. Differential pulse polarography has been developed for the quantitative estimation of clonazepam in different pharmaceutical preparations without any prior separation using standard addition method. Kinetic parameters such as transfer coefficient, diffusion coefficient and heterogeneous forward rate constant are evaluated and reported. On the basis of the experimental results, a reduction mechanism is suggested for clonazepam.
