Chemiluminescence (CL) provides outstanding analytical performance due to its independence from external light sources, background-free nature and exceptional sensitivity and selectivity. Yet, ultra-sensitive (bio)analysis is impeded by low hydrophilicity, poor quantum yields, fast kinetics or instability of most CL reagents such as luminol, acridinium esters, dioxetanes or peroxyoxalic derivatives. Photophysical studies show that m-carboxy luminol overcomes these limitations as its hydrophilic design provides a 5-fold increase in relative quantum yield resulting in superior performance in H2O2-dependent bioassays with 18-fold higher sensitivity for the quantification of its co-reactant H2O2, and 5-times lower detection limits for the luminophore. Studies with CL enhancers suggest its significance for mechanistic investigations in tandem with peroxidases. Finally, its integration into enzymatic and immunoassay applications demonstrates that m-carboxy luminol will provide signal enhancement, lower detection limits, and increased dynamic ranges for any other luminol-based CL assay, thus comprising the potential to replace luminol as benchmark probe.
Keywords: Analytical methods; Enzymatic lactate detection; Immunoassay; Luminescence; Luminol derivative.
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