Fluorimetric determination of epinephrine with o-phenylenediamine

A simple and sensitive fluorimetric method for the determination of epinephrine is described. The method is based on the reaction of epinephrine with o-phenylenediamine in alkaline medium. The addition of 0.2% (v/v) acetone enhances the fluorescence 50-fold. Under optimum conditions, a linear relationship was obtained between the fluorescence intensity and the concentration of epinephrine in the 2.0×10−8∼6.0×10−6 mol/l range; the detection limit is 9.3×10−9 mol/l. In recovery tests, the relative standard deviation (five replicates) was within 2.0% over the linear range.