Abstract

Chemiluminescence (CL) has many advantageous features as a tool of detection in instrumental analysis, including sensitivity, selectivity and simplicity. A CL reaction needs no excitation light source, thus, it is not accompanied with any scattering light. This results in a large signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and consequently, a substantial increase in detector's sensitivity. To date, several kinds of CL reactions have been clarified on their reaction mechanisms. Generally, concentrations of the substrates or catalysts in each CL reaction can be determined by measuring the CL generated. Among the CL reactions, luminol (5-amino-2,3-dihydro-1,4-phthalazinedione) derivatives, acridine derivatives, aryloxalate derivatives, and ruthenium derivatives have frequently been utilized in analytical applications. In this article, representative analytical applications of CL in liquid phase for the determination of a variety of compounds are described.