Quantitative Detection of Phenobarbital in an Injectable Solution Based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

A simple method for phenobarbital detection was established. Based on the density functional theory (DFT), the geometry optimization and spectra calculation were performed using Gaussian software on a Becke, 3-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) level for phenobarbital. The results from theoretical analysis were compared with experimental results, and the Raman frequencies and their vibrational modes were assigned. A silver colloid surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, with uniform size and good monodispersity, was prepared, and samples were detected without any pretreatment. The detection conditions were optimized. A linear relationship was obtained between concentration and Raman intensity over the 12–100 µg/mL concentration range. The limit of detection (LOD) was 12 µg/mL, and the recovery rate was between 94.2% and 111.2%. This method shows great practical potential for the identification of phenobarbital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]