Photoinduced chemiluminescence of pharmaceuticals

Abstract A screening test for the forward development of chemiluminescence systems able to determine pharmaceutical compounds is reported. The test is based on the on-line photodegradation of the drugs by using a photoreactor consisting of 697 cm × 0.5 mm PTFE tubing helically coiled around an 8 W low-pressure mercury lamp. Photodegraded pharmaceuticals are detected by direct chemiluminescence of the resulting photofragments and their subsequent reaction with potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid medium as oxidant. The screening comprised 97 compounds with different molecular structures and relevant members of the most important families of pharmaceuticals are tested (amino acids, carbox…