A novel chemiluminescence method for determination of terbutaline sulfate based on potassium ferricyanide oxidation sensitized by rhodamine 6G.

This work reports a novel flow injection-chemiluminescence (FI-CL) system for determination of terbutaline sulfate, a drug for treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is based on the reaction of potassium ferricyanide with terbutaline sulfate in sodium hydroxide medium sensitized by the fluorescent dye rhodamine 6G. With the peak height as a quantitative parameter applying optimum working conditions, terbutaline sulfate is determined over the range of 0.01-1.2 microg ml(-1) with a detection limit of 6.7 x 10(-3) microg ml(-1). The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) is 3.7% for 0.1 microg ml(-1) terbutaline sulfate (n = 11). The proposed method is sensitive, simple, rapid, and was applied to determination of terbutaline sulfate in pharmaceutical preparations. The possible chemiluminescence (CL) reaction mechanism was also discussed briefly.