A novel chemiluminescence (CL) system, including the cyclometallated iridium(III) complex {tris[1-(2,6-dimethylphenoxy)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)phthalazine]iridium}, potassium permanganate and oxalic acid, is proposed for the determination of benzenediols. This method is based on the fact that hydroquinone and catechol exhibited an inhibiting effect, while resorcinol exhibited an enhancing effect on CL intensity. The optimum conditions for CL emission were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits of hydroquinone, catechol and resorcinol were 6.4 × 10(-8), 2.7 × 10(-9) and 8.1 × 10(-7) mol/L, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of benzenediols in different types of water sample. The luminophors of the CL systems were all identified as the metal-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excited state of the iridium complex.
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