A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the assay of maprotiline hydrochloride. The method is based on the formation of a complex between the drug and p-chloranil at 60 °C in dioxane, using a three-fold molar excess of the reagent; complex formation is complete in less than 30 min. The complex shows maximum absorbance at 640 nm. The method was applied to commercially available tablets and the results were statistically compared with those obtained by an ultraviolet spectrophotometric method, using t- and F-tests.