ABSTRACT
Luminescence phenomenona, processes by which some materials emit light or radiant energy accompanied by little or no heat, may be classified generally as fluorescence, phosphorescence, chemiluminescence, triboluminescence, and electroluminescence. Chemiluminescence is the same as fluorescence except that the energy of excitation is produced in a chemical reaction. Electroluminescence is a term applied to fluorescence or phosphorescence produced by direct application of an electric current to a substance such as on a panel illumination. Fluorescence provides some of the most practical, sensitive, and selective methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis in inorganic and organic analytical chemistry. Observations into the growth, reproductive, and defensive mechanisms found in animals and plants have led to the continued discovery and development of natural and synthetic chemicals for insect, plant, and disease regulation and control. Fluorescence spectrometry where appropriate has been used to find, identify, characterize, describe, and monitor these chemicals in nature. Some of these chemicals are highly fluorescent, though most are nonfluorescent.
