Permanganate-based chemiluminescence analysis of ferulic acid using flow injection.

A simple, sensitive and rapid flow-injection chemiluminescence method has been developed for the determination of ferulic acid based on the chemiluminescence reaction of ferulic acid with potassium permanganate in a nitric acid medium. A strong chemiluminescence signal was observed when ferulic acid was injected into an acidic potassium permanganate solution in a flow-cell. The present method allowed the determination of ferulic acid in the concentration range of 6.0 x 10(-6) to 2.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1); the detection limit (3sigma) for ferulic acid was 9.6 x 10(-8) mol l(-1). The relative standard deviation was 1.0% for 11 replicate analyses of 2.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) ferulic acid. The proposed method was applied to the determination of ferulic acid in real samples with satisfactory results. Moreover, the reaction mechanism of the chemiluminescence system was primarily considered.