Improved determination of hydrogen peroxide by measurement of peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence

Chemiluminescence from the reaction of bis-(2,4,5-trichloro-6-carbopentoxyphenyl) oxalate with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of triethylamine in t-butanol—water has been investigated as a means of determining hydrogen peroxide. Increasing the percentage of t-butanol increases the signal-to-background ratio but reduces the absolute magnitude of the emission signal. The sensitivity is greatest in aqueous solutions at pH 8; the response is linear from the detection limit (2 × 10^-8 M) to 10^-3 M. The system is also shown to respond linearly to uric acid concentrations in the range 1–4 × 10^-6 M, when uricase is used to catalyze uric acid oxidation to yield hydrogen peroxide.