Preliminary Evaluation of Dual Acidic Potassium Permanganate and Tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) Chemiluminescence Detection for the HPLC Determination of Papaver somniferum Alkaloids

Abstract

This paper describes a dual chemiluminescence reagent for the determination of the opiate alkaloids morphine, codeine, oripavine, and thebaine in Papaver somniferum extracts. Detection was achieved using a mixture of acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(ii), where the former acted as both the oxidant for the latter and as a chemiluminescence reagent in its own right. The analytes were separated on a C8 column using ion-pairing HPLC. The application of the mixed reagent detection compared favourably with results obtained using standard HPLC methodology. Detection limits for the alkaloids were 10−6, 5 × 10−7, 3 × 10−6, and 2 × 10−6 mol L−1 for morphine, codeine, oripavine, and thebaine, respectively.