Optical detection of phenolic compounds based on the surface plasmon resonance band of Au nanoparticles

An indirect colorimetric method is presented for detection of trace amounts of hydroquinone (1), catechol (2) and pyrogallol (3). The reduction of AuCl4− to Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) by these phenolic compounds in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) produced very intense surface plasmon resonance peak of Au-NPs. The plasmon absorbance of Au-NPs allows the quantitative colorimetric detection of the phenolic compounds. The calibration curves derived from the changes in absorbance at λ = 568 nm were linear with concentration of hydroquinone, catechol and pyrogallol in the range of 7.0 × 10−7 to 1.0 × 10−4M, 6.0 × 10−6 to 2.0 × 10−4 M and 6.0 × 10−7 to 1.0 × 10−4 M, respectively. The detection limits were 5.3 × 10−7, 2.5 × 10−6 and 3.2 × 10−7 M for the hydroquinone, catechol and pyrogallol, respectively. The method was applied satisfactorily to the determination of phenolic compounds in water samples and pharmaceutical formulations.