May 1 2014
Chemiluminescence is the process of generating electromagnetic radiation by releasing energy as a result of a chemical reaction. The light can be emitted in the infrared, visible, or ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Chemiluminescent reactions are generally categorized into three major types:
- Light-emitting reactions, which occur with the help of electrical current
- Bioluminescent reactions that take place in living organisms, such as the jellyfish or firefly
- Chemical reactions, which use synthetic compounds and involve highly oxidized species, commonly termed as chemiluminescent reactions
Basic Principle
Chemiluminescence reactions generally involve the breaking up of the oxygen-oxygen bond in organic peroxide compounds. These compounds are responsible for the light emitting reactions, due to the cleavage of the relatively weak peroxide bond. Thus, a large amount of energy is produced as a result of molecular re-organization.
The following are the conditions necessary for the chemiluminescence reactions to take place:
- Sufficient amount of energy is required to produce the excited state molecule
- The reaction pathway must be favorable for the formation of an excited product
- The excited state molecule should have an ability to transfer the energy to another molecule
Applications
Chemiluminescence principle is applied in the following:
- Analysis of organic and inorganic species
- Assay of biomolecules in systems
- Combustion and gas analysis
- DNA sequencing
- Protein and nucleic acid blotting
References