Flow-injection chemiluminescence determination of penicillin antibiotics in drugs and human urine using luminol-Ag(III) complex system

A chemiluminescent (CL) system based on the reaction of an Ag(III) complex with luminol in alkaline medium is presented. Gamma order of magnitude penicillin species antibiotics could dramatically enhance CL intensities. Coupled with flow injection analysis (FIA), a novel sensitive chemiluminescent analytical technique for some penicillin antibiotics in drugs and urine samples is introduced. Under optimum conditions, benzylpenicillin sodium, amoxicillin, ampicillin and cloxacillin sodium were determinated. Detection limits of this method are 70 ng/mL for benzylpenicillin sodium, 67 ng/mL for amoxicillin, 169 ng/mL for ampicillin and 64 ng/mL for cloxacillin sodium. For the spiked urine samples, the recoveries of the four drugs were in the range of 106–112% for benzylpenicillin sodium, 104–110% for amoxicillin, 104–106% for ampicillin, and 103–105% for cloxacillin sodium. Based on the fluorescence spectra, free radical trapping experiment, and chemiluminescent spectra, a possible reaction mechanism is suggested.