Enhanced chemiluminescent determination of chloramphenicol and related nitro compounds by ‘on-line’ photochemical reaction

The viability of tandem photochemical reaction-chemiluminescence detection was studied for a heterogeneous family of nitro compounds using chloramphenicol as a test substance. The 'on-line' chemical photodegradation of chloramphenicol was performed in a flow injection assembly by using a photoreactor consisting of a 725 cm x 0.5 mm id piece of PTFE tubing coiled around an 8 W low-pressure mercury lamp. Photodegraded chloramphenicol was detected by oxidizing photo-fragments from the parent compound and their subsequent reaction with a luminol-Co(II) system. The calibration graph was linear up to 3 x 10(-5) mol l-1 chloramphenicol, the limit of detection was 3 x 10(-9) mol l-1, the relative s…