Flow-injection chemiluminescence determination of chlortetracycline using on-line electrogenerated [Cu(HIO6)2]5− as the oxidant

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) flow system for the determination of chlortetracycline is described. It is based on the direct CL reaction of chlortetracycline and [Cu(HIO6)2]5− in KOH medium. The unstable [Cu(HIO6)2]5− was on-line electrogenerated by constant-current electrolysis. The CL intensity was linear with chlortetracycline concentration in the range of 0.1–100 μg ml−1. The determination limit was 5.3×10−8 g ml−1. The whole process could be completed in 1 min. The proposed method is suitable for automatic and continuous analysis, and has been applied satisfactorily to analysis of chlortetracycline in biological fluid.