1997 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 59-65
The described chemiluminescence method enables the determination of adenine. In a dimethylformamide solution of the products of a reaction between adenine and an alkylglyoxal derivative in the presence of an acid catalyst, chemiluminescence occurs when a sodium hydroxide solution is added. This method is highly sensitive, is specific to compounds containing adenine, and produces no chemiluminescent products whatsoever in reactions with guanine and other nucleic acid bases other than adenine. The detection range for adenine in this reaction was 1.0× 10-2 to 1.0×10-7M, and the detection limit 1.4×10-8M (7.0×10-14mol per assay). The combined use with polymerase chemical reaction amplification enabled as little as 10pg of DNA to be detected.
