A simple, precise, rapid, and economic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of Ibuprofen and Phenylephrine HCl in bulk and combined dosage form. This method involves first-order derivative spectroscopy using 248？nm and 237？nm as zero crossing points for Ibuprofen and Phenylephrine HCl, respectively. For spectrophotometric method 0.1？N NaOH was used as a solvent. The linearity was established over the concentration range of 12–72？μg/mL and 1.5–22？μg/mL for Ibuprofen and Phenylephrine HCl with correlation coefficient ( ) of 0.9972 and 0.9981, respectively. The mean % recoveries were found to be in the range of 98.88% and 98.54% for Ibuprofen and Phenylephrine HCl, respectively. Interday and intraday studies showed repeatability of the method. The method was found to be specific and robust. The method was successfully applied to pharmaceutical formulation, with no interference from excipients as indicated by the recovery study. Results of analysis were validated statistically and by recovery studies. 1. Introduction The 2-arylpropionic acid derivative, Ibuprofen [RS-2-(4-isobutyl-phenyl) propionic acid], is one of the most potent orally active antipyretic, analgesic, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID)s used extensively in the treatment of acute and chronic pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and related conditions. This compound is characterized by a better tolerability compared with other NSAIDs [1]. Ibuprofen contains a chiral carbon atom on the propionic acid side-chain; therefore it exists as two enantiomers. It is usually marketed as a 50？:？50 mixture of the S- and R-enantiomers, even if it is known that the pharmacological activity is due almost exclusively to the S-enantiomer [2]. Phenylephrine Hydrochloride is [(R)-2-methylamino-1-(3-hydroxyphenyl) ethanol hydrochloride] and used as alpha-adrenergic, sympathomimetic agent as well as vasoconstrictor with little effect on the myocardium or the central nervous system. The literature survey revealed that spectrophotometry [1], RP-HPLC [2], electrophoresis [3], and liquid chromatography [4] methods have been reported for the estimation of phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations. The combination of Ibuprofen (IBU) and Phenylephrine HCl (PHE) is available as a tablet formulation in the ratio 200？:？10？mg IBU？:？PHE. RP-HPLC, HPTLC, and spectrophotometric methods for estimation of Ibuprofen (IBU) in combination with other drugs are reported [5–10]. The literature survey also revealed the report of RP-HPLC, HPTLC, and spectrophotometric methods for
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