Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of polyhydroxy phenols in the presence of rhodamine B as a sensitiser

A novel flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) system for determination of polyhydroxy phenols, including phloroglucinol, pyrogallol, resorcinol and pyrocatechol has been described. The system utilises CL reaction of ferricyanide with polyhydroxy phenols in sodium hydroxide media sensitised by the fluorescent dye Rhodamine B. The proposed procedure has a linear range of 0.05-5.0 μg mL - 1 for phloroglucinol, and 0.01-1.0 μg mL - 1 for pyrogallol, resorcinol and pyrocatechol. The method is sensitive, simple, and fast. The chemiluminescence reaction mechanism has been also proposed and briefly discussed.