ABSTRACT
In chemiluminescence (CL) the energy for excitation of compounds to a light-emitting excited state is produced by chemical reactions, which means in principle that no light other than the emitted light exists and that the light emerges from a black background. This chapter focuses on the description of CL reactions and/or CL reagents for detection in liquid chromatography (LC). Two types of CL reactions can be distinguished. In the first one an energy-rich intermediate, produced by the CL reaction, emits light. In the second type of CL reaction the energy-rich intermediate which is produced in the early stages of the reaction excites other substances, which in turn emit light. In peroxyoxalate CL reactions aryloxalate and hydrogen peroxide react in the presence of a fluorescent compound. Fluorescent compounds or fluorescence-labeled compounds are separated on a column, the mixture of the aryl oxalate and hydrogen peroxide is added to the effluent, and generated CL is detected by a photomultiplier or photon counter.
