A stopped‐flow study of the dual chemiluminescence for the luminol–KIO4–Mn2+ system in strong alkaline solutions

A novel phenomenon of dual chemiluminescence (CL) was observed for the KIO₄–luminol–Mn²⁺ system in strong alkaline solutions using the stopped‐flow technique. Scavenging study of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) suggested that the two CL peaks originated from different CL pathways precipated by distinct ROS (O₂^? and ^?OH for the first peak, mainly ¹O₂ for the second peak). Generation of these ROS at different time intervals from the reactions involving IO₄^?, O₂, and Mn²⁺ and their subsequent reactions with luminol induced the intense CL emission. The relative intensity of the two CL peaks can be tuned over a wide range by varying the concentrations of Mn^2?, luminol and KIO₄. Because of the involvement of different ROS in each pathway, the two CL peaks could respond quite differently to various substances. Moreover, variation of the intensity ratio of the two CL peaks altered the relative proportions of the corresponding ROS, thereby changing their responses to a given substance. The dual CL emission acts like a pair of tunable probes and it is believed that this CL system has great potential in analytical applications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.