Improved determination of hydrogen peroxide or lucigenin by measurement of lucigenin chemiluminescence in organised assemblies

Chemiluminescence (CL) from the reaction of 10,10′-dimethyl-9, 9′-biacridinium dinitrate (lucigenin) with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of different organised assemblies has been evaluated as a means of improving the CL assay for the determination of hydrogen peroxide. If the assay is conducted in the presence of 3-(N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethylammonio)propane-1- sulphonate, hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride or polyoxyethylene(23)dodecanol (Brij-35) micelles or β-cyclodextrin, improvements in the sensitivity by factors of 1.9-7.6 were observed relative to that in water. The best sensitivity is achieved in micellar Brij-35 in which the CL intensity is linearly proportional to hydrogen peroxide from 3.0 × 10^-7 up to 1.0 × 10^-3 M (the highest concentration examined). The precision in Brij-35 is good with the relative deviation at the 95% confidence level being 3.2 × 2.2%. The selectivity of the lucigenin CL assay for hydrogen peroxide is also improved in the Brij-35 medium. Additionally, the usable pH range in which analytically useful CL can be observed is extended in the Brij-35 or CTAC micellar systems relative to water. Preliminary data suggest that these advantages are also possible if one uses the reaction to quantitate lucigenin rather than hydrogen peroxide.