Spectrophotometric Study of Luminol in Dimethyl Sulfoxide–Potassium Hydroxide

Abstract

The spectrophotometric study of luminol (LH2) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), DMSO-water solutions, and alkaline DMSO and DMSO-water solutions has been done, focusing on the effect of the KOH additon on LH2 absorption and fluorescence properties. The absorption spectra indicate an acid-base equilibrium, and the luminol dianion (L2−) formation at 3 × 10−4 − 2.4 × 10−3M KOH. The decrease of the fluorescence intensity and the variation of the excitation spectra of LH2-DMSO-KOH solutions with KOH concentration have been similarly explained. The acid-base process is reversible. The addition of HCl to the solution with 3.0 × 10−3 M KOH leads to an increase of the fluorescence intensity to its highest value, observed in pure DMSO. The addition of HCl to the LH2-DMSO solution leads to the decrease of the fluorescence intensity as a result of the LH+3 cation formation. In LH2-DMSO-water, the fluorescence band is shifted from 405 nm to 424 nm and increased in the intensity. In the presence of KOH (in LH2-DMSO-water-KOH solution) a new band appears, with the maximum at 485 nm and the band at 405 nm decreased. The changes in fluorescence lifetimes also evidence the different chemical species formed.