A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method for determination of ultra trace amounts of thallium(III) with 4-(4'-N,N-dimethylaminophenyl) urazole as a new reagent

A simple and selective spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of ultra trace amounts of Tl(III). The reported method is based on the oxidation of 4-(4'-N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)urazole (DAPU) to the corresponding triazolinedione (TAD) by Tl(III) at pH 4.0. The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the increasing color of TAD compound at 514 nm by the fixed-time method. At a given time of 2.0 min at 30 degrees C, the working range of calibration was 5.0 x 10(-8) - 2.0 x 10(-5) M Tl(III) and detection limit of 5.0 x 10(-8) M was obtained. The influences of pH, reagent concentration, ionic strength and temperature were studied. The effect of diverse ions on the determination of Tl(III) by the proposed method was also investigated. Thallium in real samples was determined by this method, with satisfactory results.     

Flow-injection determination of ascorbic acid and cysteine simultaneously with spectrofluorometric detection.

A simple and sensitive spectrofluorometric method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and cysteine by a flow-injection system. This method is based on the reduction of Tl(III) with ascorbic acid or cysteine in acidic media, producing fluorescence reagent, TlCl3(2-) (lambdaex = 227 nm, lambdaem = 419 nm). The injected sample solution was divided into two separate streams. The first stream was treated with Tl(III) at pH 3.0 and then passed through a 270 cm reaction coil to the flow cell of the spectrofluorometer, where the fluorescence intensity was measured. This signal is related to ascorbic acid and cysteine concentration. The second part of the injected sample solution was treated with Tl(III) in HCl solution and then passed through a 50 cm reaction coil to the flow cell and the fluorescence intensity was measured. This signal is related only to cysteine. Thus, the ascorbic acid content was determined directly by the difference according to the calibration curve. Ascorbic acid and cysteine can be determined in the range of 1 x 10(-6) to 5.0 x 10(-5) M, at a rate of 16 samples per hour. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 8 x 10(-7) M for ascorbic acid and 7 x 10(-7) M for cysteine. The influence of potential interfering substances was studied. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of both analytes in real samples.     

Facile separation and determination of Aconitine alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicines by CE with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II)-based electrochemiluminescence detection

A facile CE method coupled with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II)-based electrochemiluminescence [Ru(bpy)(3) (2+)] detection was developed for simultaneous determination of Aconitum alkaloids, i.e., hypaconitine (HA), aconitine (AC), and mesaconitine (MA) in baseline separation. The optimal separation of these Aconitum alkaloids was achieved in a fused-silica capillary column (50 cm x 25 microm id) with 30 mM phosphate solution (pH 8.40) as running buffer at 12 kV applied voltage. The three alkaloids can be determined within 10 min by a single run. The calibration curves showed a linear range from 2.0 x 10(-7) to 2.0 x 10(-5) M for HA, 3.4 x 10(-7) to 1.7 x 10(-5) M for AC, and 3.8 x 10(-7) to 1.9 x 10(-5) M for MA. The RSDs for all analytes were below 3.01%. Good linear relationships were found with correlation coefficients for all analytes exceeding 0.993. The detection limits were 2.0 x 10(-8) M for HA, 1.7 x 10(-7) M for AC, and 1.9 x 10(-7) M for MA under optimal conditions. This method was successfully applied to determine the three alkaloids in Aconitum plants.     

Voltammetric detection of sulfonamides at a poly(3-methylthiophene) electrode

Detection of sulfonamide compounds in a mixture of standards at a poly(3-methylthiophene) coated on glassy carbon (GC) electrode is reported. The polymer, poly(3-methylthiophene), was electrochemically synthesized at a GC rotating disk-working electrode versus Ag/AgCl using cyclic voltammetry (+0.5 to +2.0 V). Square wave voltammetry (SQWV) with cathodic reduction (0 to -4.0 V) was used for the detection of seven sulfonamide compounds in a mixture. The working concentration ranges (curvilinear) established for different compounds in Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer (pH 6.26), were: 5.0x10(-6)-3.2x10(-3) M sulfamerazine, 5.0x10(-6)-3.2x10(-3) M sulfadiazine, 7.5x10(-7)-3.2x10(-4) M sulfasalazine, 9.0x10(-7)-5.0x10(-4) M sulfamethazine, 6.5x10(-8)-3.5.0x10(-5) M sulfamethoxazole, 9.7x10(-8)-5.0x10(-5) M sulfathiazole, and 9.0x10(-8)-3.2x10(-5) M 5-sulfaminouracil. Detection limits were calculated as: 3.9x10(-6) M for sulfamerazine; 4.0x10(-6) M sulfadiazine; 2.5x10(-7) M sulfasalazine; 3.7x10(-7) M sulfamethazine; 4.0x10(-8) M sulfamethoxazole; 6.4x10(-8) M sulfathiazole and 6.0x10(-9) M 5-sulfaminouracil. The data suggests a potential application of the poly(3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) electrode for determination of sulfonamides in veterinary and other applications.     

Simultaneous electrochemical determination of uric acid and ascorbic acid on a glassy carbon electrode modified with cobalt(II) tetrakisphenylporphyrin.

A cobalt(II) tetrakisphenylporphyrin (Co(II)TPP) film modified glassy carbon electrode (Co(II)TPP-GCE) was prepared by just coating Co(II)TPP solution on the surface of the electrode. It can be used for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and uric acid. The anodic peaks of AA and UA can be separated well. Owing to the strongly hydrophobic property of porphyrin, the modified electrode has good stability and long life. The linear range for UA and AA were 2.0 x 10(-6)-1.0 x 10(-4) M and 9.0 x 10(-6)-2.0 x 10(-3) M with detection limits of 5.0 x 10(-7) and 5.0 x 10(-6) M, respectively. Furthermore, metalloporphyrins of other kinds were also used to construct modified electrodes. Their performances were inferior compared with that of the Co(II)TPP modified electrode.     

Simultaneous capillary electrophoretic separation and detection of P(V) and As(V) As heteropoly-blue complexes

A capillary electrophoretic (CE) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of P(V) and As(V). A Mo(VI)-ascorbic acid reagent reacted with a mixture of trace amounts of P(V) and As(V) to form the corresponding heteropoly-blue complexes in 0.05 M acetate buffer (pH 3.5). When 0.05 M malonate buffer was used as a migration buffer, the peaks due to their migrations were well separated in the electropherogram, and the pre-column complex-formation reaction was applied to the simultaneous CE determination of P(V) and As(V) with direct UV detection at 220 nm. With the proposed method, the calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 5 x 10(-7) - 1 x 10(-4) M, with a detection limit of 1 x 10(-7) M (a signal-to-noise ratio of 3). Interference from foreign ions was also discussed.     

Simultaneous determination of ethamsylate, tramadol and lidocaine in human urine by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemiluminescence detection

Ethamsylate, tramadol and lidocaine, partly excreted by the kidney, are generally used as hemostatic, analgesic and local anesthetic in surgery. We developed a simple and sensitive method for their simultaneous monitoring in human urine based on CE coupled with electrochemiluminescence detection by end-column mode. Under optimized conditions the proposed method yielded linear ranges from 5.0 x 10(-8) to 5.0 x 10(-5), 1.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-4) and 1.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-4) M with LODs of 8.0 x 10(-9) M (36 amol), 1.6 x 10(-8) M (72 amol) and 1.0 x 10(-8) M (45 amol) (S/N = 3) for ethamsylate, tramadol and lidocaine, respectively. The RSD for their simultaneous detection at 1.0 x 10(-6) M was 2.1, 2.8 and 3.2% (n = 7), respectively. For practical application an extraction step with ethyl acetate at pH 11 was performed to eliminate the influence of the sample ionic strength. The recoveries of ethamsylate, tramadol and lidocaine at different levels in human urine were between 87 and 95%. This method was used for simultaneous detection of ethamsylate, tramadol and lidocaine in clinic urine samples from two medicated patients. It was valuable in clinical and biochemical laboratories for monitoring these drugs for various purposes.     

A simple and rapid flow-injection chemiluminescence method for the determination of noscapine with Ru(phen)3(2+)-Ce(IV) system

A new flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) system was used for the determination of noscapine. This technique is based on the reduction effect of noscapine on the Ru(phen)3(3+), which is produced by reaction between Ru(phen)3(2+) and acidic Ce(IV) solutions, and this rapid reduction produces strong CL. Calibration plots were linear over the range of 3.0 x 10(-7) - 2.0 x 10(-6) mol L(-1) and 2.0 x 10(-6) - 2.0 x 10(-4) mol L(-1). The CL intensity was so high, that it is able to produce a detection limit of 6.6 x 10(-8) M noscapine (3sigma). The relative standard deviation of 2.0 x 10(-6) M noscapine was 1.0% (n=10). The proposed method was successfully applied for the flow injection determination of noscapine in cough and Tonin syrup samples. The results of real sample analyses show good recovery percentages (97.3-102.4%). The minimum sampling rate was 100 samples per hour.     

The sensitive determination of nucleic acids using resonance light scattering quenching method

It is found that in hexamethylene tetramine (HMTA)-HCl buffer of pH 7.00, nucleic acids can quench the resonance light scattering (RLS) of europium (III) (Eu3+)-2-thenoyltrifluoroacetne (TTA)-1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) system. Based on this, a sensitive method for the determination of nucleic acids is proposed. The experiments indicate that under the optimum conditions, the quenched RLS intensity is in proportion to the concentration of nucleic acids in the range of 1.0x10(-10) to 2.0x10(-6) g ml-1 for fish sperm (fsDNA), 1.0x10(-11) to 1.0x10(-6) g ml-1 for yeast RNA (yRNA), 5.0x10(-11) to 5.0x10(-7) g ml-1 for calf thymus DNA (ctDNA). Their detection limits (S/N=3) are 0.03, 0.006 and 0.002 ng ml-1, respectively. Therefore, the proposed method is the most sensitive RLS method for the determination of nucleic acids so far. The interaction between nucleic acids and Eu3+-TTA-Phen is also discussed.     

Determination of copper with neocuproine by thermal-lens spectrometry

Conditions for the spectrophotometric determination of copper with 2,9-dimethyl-l,10-phenan-throline (neocuproine) in the presence of ascorbic acid in a water-ethanol solution (9 : 1) at pH 4.5–5.0 have been found. The detection limit is 3 x 10^-6 M. The concentration range is from 4.4 x 10^-6 to 3 x 10^-4 M. Conditions for the determination of copper(I) with neocuproine by thermal lens spectrometry have been proposed. The detection limit is 4 x 10^-7 M. The concentration range is from 7 x 10^-7 to 6 x 10^-5 M. Iron(II) at concentrations as high asn x 10^-4 M does not interfere with the determination of copper. Changes in the conditions for the photometric reaction associated with passing from spectrophotometric measurements to thermal lensing are discussed.     

Highly sensitive and simple method for measurement of pipecolic acid using reverse-phase ion-pair high performance liquid chromatography with tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection

A new, highly sensitive chemiluminescence method for measurement of pipecolic acid in various substances such as human serum, cow's milk, beer, and apple juice has been developed. The method is based on reverse-phase ion-pair high performance liquid chromatographic separation and subsequent tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection. It was confirmed that imino acids show strong chemiluminescence upon mixing with tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III). A calibration graph, based on a standard pipecolic acid solution, was linear over the range 5.0x10(-9)M to 2.0x10(-5)M and the detection limit was 24fmol (signal-to-noise ratio=3). This highly sensitive and selective determination method can be applied to selected samples without purification or pre-concentration procedures. Compared to the previous HPLC methods, the proposed method is easier, more sensitive, and time-saving.     

A new spectrofluorometric method for the determination of ascorbic acid based on its activating effect on a hemoglobin-catalyzed reaction.

A spectrofluorometric method for the determination of ascorbic acid (AA) based on its activation on the hemoglobin-catalyzed reaction was proposed. The fluorescence intensity of the product was measured under the optimal experimental conditions, i.e. 4.0 x 10(-6) M H2O2, 6.0 x 10(-5) M p-cresol, 1.2 M NH3-NH4Cl (pH 10.4) and 2.0 x 10(-7) M hemoglobin. The order of additions of the reagents was also studied. The activation of AA was found to be associated with a high ammonia concentration. The linear range of the method was 9.0 x 10(-10)-3.6 x 10(-8) M of AA. The detection limit was calculated to be 3.0 x 10(-10) M. The relative standard deviation of this method is 1.6% at 7.0 x 10(-9) M for 11 determinations.     

Capillary electrophoresis with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric and electrospray time of flight mass spectrometric detection for the determination of arsenic species in fish samples

CE was coupled to inductively coupled plasma MS (ICP-MS) and ESI-MS to identify and quantify the arsenic species arsenobetaine (AsB), arsenite (As(III)), arsenate (As(V)), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). A GC-flame ionization detector (FID)-based German standard method and ICP-MS were used for validation of the data obtained for arsenobetaine and total arsenic, respectively. LODs obtained with the CE-ESI-TOF-MS method were 1.0x10(-7) M for AsB, 5.0x10(-7) M for DMA, and 1.0x10(-6) M for As(III) and As(V). For the CE-ICP-MS method, LODs were 8.5x10(-8) M for AsB, 9.5x10(-8) M for DMA, 9.3x10(-8) M for As(III), and 6.2x10(-8) M for As(V). While CE-ICP-MS provided high sensitivity and better reproducibility for quantitative measurements, CE-ESI-MS with a TOF mass analyzer proved to be valuable for species identification. With this setup, fish samples were prepared and analyzed and the obtained data were successfully validated with the independent methods.     

Flow-injection determination of thyroxine using immobilized enzyme with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection.

A flow-injection method is reported for the determination of thyroxine based on its enhancement effect on the tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence reaction in the presence of NADH using immobilized alcohol dehydrogenase purified from baker yeast. The limit of detection (3 sigma blank) was 5.0 x 10(-8) M with a sample throughput of 80 h(-1). The calibration graph was linear over the range 0.5 - 10 x 10(-7) M (r2= 0.9988) with the relative standard deviation in the range 1.4 - 3.5% (n = 4). The effect of common excipients used in pharmaceutical preparations, some organic compounds and metal ions was studied. The method was applied to pharmaceutical thyroxine tablets, and the obtained results were not significantly different from the amount quoted.     

Simultaneous determination of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) by CE using precolumn complexation with a [PW(11)O(39)](7-) ligand

A CE method was developed for the simultaneous determination of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) at trace levels. A lacunary Keggin-type [PW(11)O(39)](7-) ligand reacted quantitatively with a mixture of trace amounts of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) to form the so-called ternary Keggin-type anions [P(Zr(IV)W(11))O(40)](5-) and [P(Hf(IV)W(11))O(40)](5-) in 0.010 M monochloroacetate buffer (pH 2.2). Since both ternary anions possessed different electrophoretic mobilities and high molar absorptivities in the UV region, Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) were determined simultaneously with direct UV detection at 258 nm. Each peak height was linearly dependent on the concentration of Zr(IV) or Hf(IV) in the range of 5.0x10(-7)-1.0x10(-5) M; a detection limit of 2x10(-7) M was achieved. The utility of the proposed CE method was demonstrated for the simultaneous determination of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) in natural water samples with satisfactory results.     

Application of dopamine as an electroactive ligand for the determination of aluminum in biological fluids.

Dopamine (3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylamine, DA) is applied as an electroactive chelant for indirect determination of aluminum (Al) in biological fluids. It is observed that the decrease of the differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) anodic peak current of DA is linear with the increase of Al concentration. Under optimum experimental conditions (pH 8.6, 2.0 x 10(-4) M DA, and 0.03 M NH4Ac-NH3 x H2O buffer solution), two linear ranges, 5.0 x 10(-8) - 4.0 x 10(-7) M and 4.0 x 10(-7) - 7.2 x 10(-6) M Al(III), are obtained. The detection limit of Al is 1.9 x 10(-8) M and the relative standard deviation for 4 x 10(-6) M Al(III) is 3.1% (N = 8). Many biologically active foreign species have been selected for interference. Excellent recoveries and accuracy have been obtained in the measurements of Al in biological samples such as synthetic renal dialysate, Ringer's solution, human whole blood, cerebrospinal fluid of demented patient, and urine of diabetic patient. The methodological principle that Al complexes with DA on the electroactive position result in the depression of electrochemical activities of DA has been verified by comparing both the electrochemical behaviors and the spectroscopic responses like UV-vis and Raman of DA in the presence and in the absence of Al.     

A facile and sensitive chemiluminescence detection of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic separation

It was found that native amino acids enhanced the chemiluminescence (CL) reaction between luminol and BrO(-) in an alkaline aqueous solution. This has led to the development of a facile and highly sensitive CL detection scheme for the determination of amino acids in biological samples after capillary electrophoretic (CE) separation. The CE-CL conditions were optimized. An electrophoretic buffer of 2.5 x 10(-2) M sodium borate (pH 9.4) containing 1 x 10(-4) M luminol was used. The oxidizer solution of 8 x 10(-4) M NaBrO in 0.1 M sodium carbonate buffer solution (pH 12.5) was introduced post-column. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits were 1.0 x 10(-7) M for glutamic acid (Glu) and 1.3 x 10(-7) M (S/N = 3) for aspartic acid (Asp). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of peak area and migration time were in the ranges of 3.8-4.3% and 1.4-1.6%, respectively. The present method was applied to the determination of excitatory amino acids (i.e., Asp and Glu) in rat brain tissue and monkey plasma. The levels of these major excitatory amino acids in monkey plasma were quantified for the first time and found to be 1.17 +/- 0.17 x 10(-5) M (mean +/- SD, n = 6) for Glu and 1.64 +/- 0.19 x 10(-6) M for Asp, which were comparable with the levels in human plasma.     

Capillary electrophoretic determination of phosphate based on the formation of a Keggin-type [PMo12O40]3- complex.

Based on the formation of a Keggin-type [PMo12O40]3- complex, a sensitive capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed for the determination of P(V) with direct UV detection at 220 nm. A mixture of alpha- and beta-Keggin-type [PMo12O40]3- complexes was readily formed in a sample solution consisting of a trace amount of P(V), 2.5 mM Mo(VI), 0.050 M p-C6H3(CH3)-2-SO3H (XSA), and 60% v/v CH3CN. When a 0.05 M HCl and 60% v/v CH3CN solution was used as a migration electrolyte, the Keggin complexes exhibited a sharp and well-defined peak in the electropherogram. The peak area was linearly dependent on the P(V) concentration in the range of 5 x 10(-7)-5 x 10(-5) M; a detection limit of 1 x 10(-7) M was achieved. In comparison with indirect UV detection, the direct UV detection is about ten times more sensitive, because the Keggin complexes possess high molar absorptivities. The developed CE method was applied to the determination of P(V) in river water, and the results were in good agreement with those obtained by ion chromatography (IC) and colorimetry (COL) based on the formation of mixed-valence heteropoly blue species.     

Simultaneous determination of N,N-dimethylaniline and phenol in wastewater by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection.

A method using HPLC-CL linkage was developed for simultaneous determination of N,N-dimethylaniline and phenol in wastewater, based on the strong sensitive chemiluminescence of the luminol-K3Fe(CN)6 systems in alkaline medium. The separation was carried out on a Hypersil ODS column with a mobile phase of ethanol-0.01% triethylamine (2:1, v/v). The linear ranges for N,N-dimethylaniline determinations were 2.0 x 10(-7) - 2.5 x 10(-5) g/mL and 4.0 x 10(-5) - 1.5 x 10(-4) g/mL with a detection limit (3sigma) of 1.20 x 10(-8) g/mL; the relative standard deviation (3sigma) for 5.0 x 10(-6) g/mL N,N-dimethylaniline was 1.4% (n = 6). The range for phenol was from 5.1 x 10(-7) to 1.3 x 10(-4) g/mL, and a detection limit (3sigma) of 2.5 x 10(-8) g/mL could be obtained. The method can be useful for the determination of N,N-dimethylaniline and phenol in some environmental samples.     

Optical detection of phenolic compounds based on the surface plasmon resonance band of Au nanoparticles

An indirect colorimetric method is presented for detection of trace amounts of hydroquinone (1), catechol (2) and pyrogallol (3). The reduction of AuCl4(-) to Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) by these phenolic compounds in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) produced very intense surface plasmon resonance peak of Au-NPs. The plasmon absorbance of Au-NPs allows the quantitative colorimetric detection of the phenolic compounds. The calibration curves derived from the changes in absorbance at lambda = 568 nm were linear with concentration of hydroquinone, catechol and pyrogallol in the range of 7.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-4)M, 6.0 x 10(-6) to 2.0 x 10(-4)M and 6.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-4)M, respectively. The detection limits were 5.3 x 10(-7), 2.5 x 10(-6) and 3.2 x 10(-7)M for the hydroquinone, catechol and pyrogallol, respectively. The method was applied satisfactorily to the determination of phenolic compounds in water samples and pharmaceutical formulations.