Fluorescamine derivatized 3-amino-2,2,5,5,-tetramethyl-1-pyrrolidinyloxy (I) is shown to undergo an irreversible reaction with peroxyl radicals and other radical oxidants to generate a more highly fluorescent diamagnetic product (II) and thus can be used as a highly sensitive and versatile probe to determine oxidant production optically, either by monitoring the changes in fluorescence intensity, by HPLC analysis with fluorescence detection, or by a combination of both approaches. By changing the [O2]/[I] ratio, we show that peroxyl radicals can be detected and quantified preferentially in the presence of other radical oxidants. Detection of photochemically produced peroxyl radicals is achieved by employing 3-amino-2,2,5,5,-tetramethyl-1-pyrrolidinyloxy (3-ap) alone, followed by derivatization with fluorescamine. With employment of HPLC analysis, the detection limit of II at a S/N of 2 is approximately 3 nM for a 125 microL injection. Preliminary applications include the detection of peroxyl radicals generated thermally in soybean phosphatidylcholine liposomes and produced photochemically in tap water.