Chemiluminescent derivatization of adenyl compounds with glyoxal derivatives in the presence of heteropoly acids and its application to the simple and sensitive determination of DNA

A chemiluminescence (CL) determination of adenyl compounds is described. CL derivatization of adenyl compounds with methylglyoxal dimethyl acetal was performed in the presence of tungstosilicic acid and propan-2-ol. CL from adenyl compounds was produced by hydrogen peroxide and L -cysteine ethyl ester in DMF and water. The proposed method is highly sensitive and specific to compounds containing adenine. Adenine was determined in the range 1.0 × 10⁻³ −5.0 × 10⁻⁸ M with the detection limit of 3.0 × 10⁻⁸ M (150 fmol per assay). The method was applied to the determination of DNA and detection limits of a few nanograms of DNA achieved. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.