title: Considering the chemical energy requirements of the tri-n-propylamine co-reactant pathways for the judicious design of new electrogenerated chemiluminescence detection systems.
abstract: The introduction of a 'co-reactant' was a critical step in the evolution of electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) from a laboratory curiosity to a widely utilised detection system. In conjunction with a suitable electrochemiluminophore, the co-reactant enables generation of both the oxidised and reduced precursors to the emitting species at a single electrode potential, under the aqueous conditions required for most analytical applications. The most commonly used co-reactant is tri-n-propylamine (TPrA), which was developed for the classic tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) ECL reagent. New electrochemiluminophores such as cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes are also evaluated with this co-reactant. However, attaining the excited states in these systems can require much greater energy than that of tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II), which has implications for the co-reactant reaction pathways. In this tutorial review, we describe a simple graphical approach to characterise the energetically feasible ECL pathways with TPrA, as a useful tool for the development of new ECL detection systems.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia. paul.francis@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Egan H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Doeven
authors.forename: David J D
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Conor F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Francis