Exploring the electrochemiluminescent behavior of procaterol hydrochloride in the presence of Ru(bpy)3 2+ and its analytical application in pharmaceutical preparation

Based on the strong enhancement effect of procaterol hydrochloride on the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of Ru(bpy)32+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) in an alkaline H3PO4–NaOH buffer solution on a bare Pt electrode, a simple, rapid and sensitive method was developed for the determination of procaterol hydrochloride. The optimum conditions for the enhanced ECL have been developed in detail in this work. Under optimum conditions, the logarithmic ECL enhancement vs. the logarithmic concentration of procaterol hydrochloride is linear over a wide concentration range of 2.0 × 10−7 to 2.0 × 10−4 M (r = 0.9976), with a limit of detection of 1.1 × 10−8 M (S/N = 3), and a relative standard deviation of 2.1% (n = 7, c = 5.0 × 10−6 M). The proposed method was applied to the determination of this drug in tablets with recoveries of 89.7%–98.5%. In addition, a possible mechanism for the enhanced ECL of Ru(bpy)32+, which is caused by ProH, has also been proposed.