Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of paracetamol, tramadol, and aceclofenac in Pharmaceuticals: A green method with an adaptive plateau-based successive projections algorithm with automated tuning of support vector regression

Effective pain relief, particularly for postoperative and osteoarthritic conditions, often relies on the combined use of analgesics with complementary mechanisms of action. This study presents a novel, rapid, and green UV-spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous quantification of paracetamol (PA), tramadol hydrochloride (TR), and aceclofenac (AC) in pharmaceutical formulation. To overcome the inherent challenge of spectral overlap in multi-component UV analysis, the method uniquely integrates an adaptive plateau-based successive projections algorithm (AP-SPA) for optimized wavelength selection, minimizing collinearity, with automated tuning support vector regression (AT-SVR), employing a hybrid random and grid search, to effectively model non-linear relationships. This AP-SPA/AT-SVR approach demonstrated significantly improved performance compared to partial least squares regression (PLSR), achieving lower mean squared error (MSE) and higher coefficients of determination (R 2 ) for all three analytes. Rigorous validation using the accuracy profile approach confirmed the method accuracy and precision. The proposed approach has been rigorously evaluated using a suite of green metrics, including the National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI), Modified Eco-Scale, MoGAPI, and FastRGB12 tools. These assessments confirm the method low environmental footprint, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with the principles of green analytical chemistry. This innovative, sustainable strategy offers a compelling alternative for pharmaceutical quality control, directly addressing the contemporary call for environmentally responsible solutions in analytical science. • UV method for simultaneous PA, TR, AC quantification. • AP-SPA/AT-SVR overcomes spectral overlap challenge. • Outperforms PLSR for accurate ternary drug analysis. • Rapid, cost-effective and environmentally green method. • Valuable tool for pharmaceutical quality control.