Sensitive determination of metal ions by liquid chromatography with tris(2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium (II) complex electrogenerated chemiluminescence detection

Emetine dithiocarbamate metal complex, which is prepared from emetine, carbon disulfide, and metal (II), was found to indicate a large chemiluminescence intensity on the electrogenerated chemiluminescence of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II). Liquid chromatography equipped with the chemiluminescence detection was developed for analyzing trace metal ions by use of the metal complex formation. The mixture of the Cu(II) and Co(II) complexes as a model sample was injected into the LC system. The two metal complexes and an excess emetine were successfully separated. The Cu(II) and Co(II) complexes were determined over the range 1–300 nM (the detection limit of 650 fg) and 30–5000 nM (the detection limit of 17 pg), respectively.