Flow-injection chemiluminescence determination of chloroquine using peroxynitrous acid as oxidant

A new flow-injection chemiluminescence (CL) method for determination of chloroquine is proposed based on a stronger chemiluminescence of chloroquine in hydrogen peroxide–nitrite–sulfuric acid medium. The proposed method allows the measurement of chloroquine over the range of 3.0×10−7 to 1.0×10−5 mol l−1. The detection limit is 8.6×10−8 mol l−1, and the relative standard deviation for 1.0×10−6 mol l−1 chloroquine (n=11) is 1.6%. The CL mechanism is also discussed.