Flow Injection Chemiluminescence Determination of Cephalosporin Antibiotics by Their Enhancing Effects on Luminol–Potassium Periodate System

Abstract

It was found that the chemiluminescence arising from the reaction of luminol with KIO₄ in alkaline solution could be strongly enhanced by cephalosporin antibiotics. Based on these observations, a new flow injection chemiluminescence method is proposed for the determination of four cephalosporin antibiotics: cefalexin, cefaclor, cefradine, and cefadroxil. The detection limits of the method are 0.9 ng mL⁻¹ cefalexin, 0.4 ng mL⁻¹ cefaclor, 10 ng mL⁻¹ cefradine, and 10 ng mL⁻¹ cefadroxil. The method was successfully applied to the determination of four cephalosprin antibiotics in pharmaceutical preparations.

Keywords:

• Cheluminescence
• Flow injection
• Cephalosporin antibiotics

Acknowledgment

This work was financially supported by Xi'an Jiaotong University.