Determination of allopurinol by micelle-stabilised room-temperature phosphorescence in real samples

A very simple, rapid and highly sensitive method has been developed for the determination of allopurinol. The method is based on the room temperature phosphorescence of allopurinol in sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) micelles, with thallium (I) providing the external heavy atom and sodium sulphite acting as the oxygen scavenger. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the range of application is 0.25-7.0 microg ml(-1) and the limit of detection is 0.014 microg ml(-1). The most relevant characteristic of this method is its great selectivity, e.g. allopurinol can be determined in the presence of its metabolite, oxypurinol. The results of the analysis of several pharmaceutical preparations were satisfactory. The clinical applicability of this procedure has been tested by analysing allopurinol in urine samples.