High electrochemiluminescence of a new water-soluble iridium(III) complex for determination of antibiotics

A new water-soluble iridium(III) diimine complex with appended sugar was synthesized and characterized. The electrochemiluminescent behavior of the new complex in aqueous buffer was first studied and the ECL signal was found to be much higher than that of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ at a Pt working electrode. Tri-n-propylamine (TPA) and antibiotics were determined by the ECL of the iridium(III) complex in aqueous buffer at the Pt electrode and the method was found to show good sensitivity and reproducibility. The new iridium(III) complex was found to display good solubility in aqueous solution and a strong ECL signal at the Pt electrode, which might open up the possibility of its application in analysis.