Chemiluminescence | Liquid-Phase *

The article provides a concise introduction to the liquid-phase chemiluminescence reagents that are responsible for the majority of analytical applications; namely acidic potassium permanganate, acridinium esters, diaryloxalates, dioxetanes, hypohalites, luminol, manganese(IV), and tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) and related metal complexes. The substantial body of theoretical and practical work on the determination of reaction mechanisms and characterization of the key intermediates for these chemiluminescent processes is also described. This knowledge affords optimization and analyte selectivity to be achieved on a fundamental basis. The utility of these detection chemistries coupled to flow analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), immunoassay, and DNA assays is briefly discussed.