Chemiluminometric behaviour of erythromycin and related compounds Original Research Article

This paper reports the chemiluminescence generated from erythromycin and other macrolide antibiotics by the action of cerium(IV) in perchloric acid or potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid or polyphosphoric acid with limits of detection (3 × noise) for erythromycin in the range 0.15–0.31 μg ml−1. Permanganate in polyphosphoric acid gives the greatest sensitivity. A preliminary investigation of the reaction mechanism is also presented.