Determination of carbamazepine in human urine and serum samples by high-performance liquid chromatography with post-column Ru(bipy)32+-Ce(SO4)2 chemiluminescence detection

A novel, sensitive and rapid CL method coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography separation for the determination of carbamazepine is described. The method was based on the fact that carbamazepine could significantly enhance the chemiluminescence of the reaction of cerium sulfate and tris(2,2-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) in the presence of acid. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Kromasil (R) (Sigma-Aldrich) TM RP-C18 column (id: 150mm x 4.6mm, particle size: 5 mu m, pore size: 100 angstrom) with a mobile phase consisting of methanolwater-glacial acetic acid (70:29:1, v/v/v) at a flowrate of 1.0mL/min, the total analysis time was within 650s. Under optimal conditions, CL intensity was linear for carbamazepine in the range 2.0 x 108 similar to 4.0 x 105g/mL, with a detection limit of 6.0x109g/mL (S/N=3) and the relative standard detection was 2.5% for 2.0 x 106g/mL (n=11). This method was successfully applied to the analysis of carbamazepine in human urine and serum samples. The possible mechanism of the CL reaction is also discussed briefly. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.