Low-temperature phosphorescence of 1,4-benzodiazepines

Abstract A highly sensitive method for the low-temperature phosphorescence determination of a series of 1,4-benzodiazepines has been developed. Oxazepam has been used as a test molecule to study the effects of instrumental parameters, such as time decay, gate time, excitation and emission slits, and ordinate, on the phosphorescence spectra. The corresponding analytical parameters have been established for different concentration levels. Under the best sensitivity conditions a limit of detection of 16 parts per trillion (ppt) for oxazepam, 3.8 ppt for medazepam, 2 ppt for prazepam, 5 × 10 −3 ppt for diazepam, and 0.09 ppt for lorazepam could be obtained. The proposed method is thus the most …