Chemiluminescence determination of sulfite in sugar and sulfur dioxide in air using tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)-permanganate system

A chemiluminescence (CL) detection for the determination of sulfite using the reaction of Ru(bipy)(3)(2+) (bipy = 2,2'-bipyridyl) -SO32--KMnO4 is described. The concentration of sulfite is proportional to the CL intensity from 5.0 x 10(-8) to 1.25 x 10(-4) mol l(-1). The limit of detection is 2.5 x 10(-8) mol l(-1) and the relative standard deviation is 4.9% for the 2 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) sulfite solution in six repeated measurements. This method has been successfully applied to the determination of sulfite in sugar and sulfur dioxide in air by using triethanolamine (TEA) as the absorbent material. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.