Determination of epinephrine in pharmaceutical formulation by an optimized novel luminescence method using CdS quantum dots as sensitizer.

In this article, a novel chemiluminescence method using water-soluble CdS quantum dots (QDs) as sensitizers is proposed for the chemiluminometric determination of epinephrine. The method is based on the quenching effect of epinephrine on the chemiluminescence emission generated by the mixing of CdS quantum dots (QDs) with hydrogen carbonate (HCO3(-)) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in an alkaline medium. The optimization of variables influencing the chemiluminescence response of the method has been carried out by using experimental design. Under the optimal conditions, there is good linear relationship between the relative chemiluminescence intensity and the concentration of epinephrine over the range of 5 × 10(-9)-1 × 10(-6) molL(-1) with a 3σ detection limit of 5 × 10(-11) molL(-1). The method has been successfully applied to the determination of epinephrine in pharmaceutical formulation and the recovery test was done in human urine.