Spectrofluorimetric estimation of norepinephrine using ethylenediamine condensation method

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of norepinephrine is described. Norepinephrine (NE) was oxidized by mercury (II) nitrate and the oxidation product was condensed with ethylenediamine (EDA) to form a strong fluorescent compound. The addition of acetone enhances the light intensity. The measurement was carried out at 507 nm with excitation at 420 nm. A linear relationship was obtained between the fluorescence intensity and norepinephrine concentration in the range of 0.01 microM-0.014 mM; the correlation coefficient and the detection limit are 0.99813 and 2.5 nM, respectively. The interference from dopamine (DA) can be eliminated by first derivative synchronous fluorimetric method using peak to zero technique. The recovery efficiency was performed using known amounts of norepinephrine in urine sample and the results indicate a 95-98.62% recovery. The proposed method was also applied to the determination of norepinephrine in injections solution. The reaction mechanism was also described.