The formation of an ion-association complex (IA) between sulfonephthalein dye and basic nitrogen-containing compound in an organic solvent medium has been for the first time used to develop an automated SIA method. In highly polar aprotic solvents, the tautomeric equilibrium for such dyes is strongly shifted towards the colorless lactonic form. The addition of a basic nitrogen-containing substance leads to the formation of IA with a highly colored quinonoid form, which is accompanied by an increase in the absorbance of the dye band at approximately 400 nm. Protonation of pyridine nitrogen in loratadine, structure and binding places of IA were shown using quantum-chemical calculations. The very simple, direct and non-extraction spectrophotometric SIA method with high throughput of 43 h−1 was developed based on the formation of IA between loratadine and bromocresol purple in the medium of acetonitrile used both as solvent and carrier. The calibration graph was linear in the concentration range from 1.0 to 20 mg L−1 with correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations. Display omitted •Interaction of sulfonephthalein dyes and nitrogen-containing compounds.•Shift of tautomeric equilibrium in an organic solvent medium.•Non-extraction spectrophotometric SIA method for loratadine determination.•Loratadine was determined using its ion associate with bromocresol purple.