A sensitive fluorimetric method for determination of trace amounts of nitrite based on luminescence energy transfer

An efficient luminescence energy transfer (LET) system based on terbium(III)-sodium hexametaphosphate (Tb/SHMP) chelates as donor and 4-((4-(2-aminoethylamino)naphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl)benzenesulfonic acid dihydrochloride (ANDBS) as acceptor was developed for sensitive determination of trace nitrite. Stable and strong fluorescence Tb/SHMP chelates were prepared in aqueous solution. Based on Griess Reaction, ANDBS was generated by the quantitative reaction of nitrite, sulfanilamide and N-(1-naphtyl)-ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (N1NED). The degree of the overlap was effective for LET between the emission spectrum of Tb/SHMP chelates and the absorption spectrum of ANDBS. Based on the luminescence intensity quenching of Tb/SHMP chelates in proportion to the trace amounts of nitrite, a new assay for the selective and sensitive determination of nitrite was developed. Under the optimum conditions, the linear calibration graph was obtained with a linear range of 0.00040-0.20 μg mL−1 (R=0.99657). The detection limit of NO2− was 0.00010 μg mL−1 (R=0.99657). The method was applied successfully to the determination of nitrite for synthetic samples.