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Fluorescence chemistry offers the potential for extremely sensitive detection analyses. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, we have been developing for several years both instrumentation and analytical procedures to detect and measure fluorescence at the molecular level (reviewed in Jett et al., 1990). Recently, single chromophores of Rhodamine 6 G have been reliably detected in a flowing sample stream using laser-induced fluorescence (E.B. Sherer, et al., submitted for publication). While this level of sensitivity requires very sophisticated instrumentation, moderately priced ($5,000–10,000) commercially available instrumentation can detect fluorescent compounds in the nanomolar to picomolar range. One such instrument is a pulsed laser fluorometer, a nitrogen pumped dye laser with the capability to excite and measure fluorescence from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared spectral regions. The authors were tasked to develop a point detector capable of detecting both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and biological molecules (amino acids, peptides, and proteins) in water or air. As part of this system, we incorporated a pulsed laser fluorometer into a continuous flow monitor for each class of compounds above. The instrument should prove useful for detecting and monitoring any compound or class of compounds for which fluorescent chemistry exists. |
