A simple and sensitive chemiluminescence method for determination of atenolol

Atenolol, [4-[2-hydroxy-3-isopropyl-aminopropoxy]-phenyl-acet- amide], is a β1-receptor antagonist belonging to the category of β- blockers that is widely used in the treatment of varied cardiovascular disorders like cardiac arrhythmia, angina pectoris, and systematic hypertension. It is in the list of banned drugs due to misuse as doping agents in sports, because of its soothing result [1]. Literature survey reveals that several analytical methods including gas chromatography–mass spectrometry [2], spectrophotometry [3], amperometry [4], differential pulse voltammetry [5] and chemiluminescence (CL) [1], among others, have been developed for determination of atenolol. In this work, CuO nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were made by using quick precipitation approach. Then, those were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) (Fig. 1a), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Fig. 1b), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (Fig. 1c) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results of experiments indicated that CuO NPs improved the intensity of H2O2–NaHCO3 CL system, remarkably. Furthermore, it was indicated that atenolol suppressed the intensity of CuO NPs–H2O2–NaHCO3. Based on these findings, a CL method for determination of atenolol was developed. The liner range and limit of detection of the CL method were 2.0 × 10−5 –9.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 and 1.0 × 10−5 mol L−1, respectively. The method was successfully applied for quantification of atenolol in the pharmaceutical preparations.