On-line preparation of peroxymonocarbonate and its application for the study of energy transfer chemiluminescence to lanthanide inorganic coordinate complexes.

It has been shown that peroxymonocarbonate ion (HCO(4) (-)) is a potent oxidant. In this study, a flow-injection system was developed in order to prepare on-line HCO(4) (-) ion and the optimum conditions for the on-line preparation of HCO(4) (-) were studied in detail. We used 99% (13)C-enriched NaHCO(3) to examine peroxymonocarbonate by (13)C-NMR at 25 degrees C. An ultra-weak chemiluminescence (CL) was observed after mixing H(2)O(2) and sodium bicarbonate in an organic co-solvent that can accelerate the formation of HCO(4) (-) ion. When lanthanide inorganic coordinate complex, Eu(II)-EDTA, was added into this HCO(4) (-) system, the CL intensity was significantly enhanced. The CL mechanism was investigated by various methods. The experimental results indicate that peroxymonocarbonate oxidizes Eu(II) to Eu(III) and produces singlet oxygen; meanwhile, the energy originating from dimers of singlet oxygen is accepted by the Eu(III)-EDTA(-) complex. The excited Eu(III) ions undergo radiative deactivation and emit CL.