Chemiluminescence determination of ferulic acid by flow-injection analysis using cerium(IV) sensitized by rhodamine 6G.

A simple, sensitive and rapid flow-injection chemiluminescence method has been developed for the determination of ferulic acid based on the chemiluminescence reaction of ferulic acid with rhodamine 6G and ceric sulfate in sulphuric acid medium. Strong chemiluminescence signal was observed when ferulic acid was injected into the acidic ceric sulfate solution in a flow-cell. The present method allowed the determination of ferulic acid in the concentration range of 8.0 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) and the detection limit for ferulic acid was 8.7 x 10(-9) mol l(-1). The relative standard deviation was 2.4% for 10 replicate analyses of 1.0 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) ferulic acid. The proposed method was applied to the determination of ferulic acid in Taita Beauty Essence samples with satisfactory results.