A new spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of some tetracyclines based on their interfering effect on resonance fluorescence energy transfer

A rapid, simple, inexpensive and highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of some tetracyclines (TCs), namely tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH), oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTCH) and minocycline hydrochloride (MCH). Binding rhodamine B (RhB) to gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) resulted in quenching of the fluorescence of RhB by a resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism, with Au NPs as the energy acceptors. The presence of TCs caused the release of RhB molecules and recovered their fluorescence, and this was used as a basis for the quantitative determination of TCs. The reaction was monitored spectrofluorimetrically by measuring the increase in fluorescence of RhB at 572 nm starting 5 min after mixing the reagents in Tris buffer solution (pH 6.5). The effect of various experimental factors such as buffer type, pH, concentrations of the involved reagents and reaction time were studied to optimize the reaction conditions. Under optimum conditions, the calibration graphs were linear within the ranges 2.08 × 10 −9 –1.04 × 10 −6  mol/L, 2.01 × 10 −9 –1.00 × 10 −6  mol/L and 2.02 × 10 −9 –1.01 × 10 −6  mol/L and detection limits (LODs) of 0.61 × 10 −9 , 0.32 × 10 −9 and 0.66 × 10 −9  mol/L were calculated for TCH, OTCH and MCH, respectively, with corresponding percent relative standard deviations (%RSDs) of 1.18, 1.21 and 1.54 ( n  = 5). The method was successfully applied to the determination of TCs in drinking water, human urine, bovine milk and breast milk samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.