Patent ID: RE39047

Claim:
A method for emitting chemiluminescence from an acridinium ester in an immunoassay, a hybridization assay or an immunoblot assay, wherein said ester is a compound of the formula (2): wherein R 11 is an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl or aryl group; R 12 , R 13 , R 15 and R 17 are independently a hydrogen atom, halide atom, amino, carboxyl, hydroxyl, alkoxyl or nitro group; R 14 and R 18 are independently an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, alkoxyl, amino, amido, sulfonamido or sulfide group; R 16 is —R 19 —R 10 ; R 19 is not required but optionally can be an alkyl, aryl or aralkyl group; R 10 is selected from the group consisting of: X 1 is CH 3 SO 4 − , OSO 2 F − , a halide, OSO 2 CF 3 − , OSO 2 C 4 F 9 − , or and R is an alkyl, aryl or aralkyl group; or said ester is a compound of the formula (3a): wherein R 25 comprises one of the following: R 1 , and R 26 are independently a hydrogen atom or C 1 -C l0 optionally substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl or aryl group; R 22 and R 23 are independently a hydrogen atom, halide atom, amino, substituted amino carboxyl, hydroxyl, alkoxyl or nitro group; and X 2 is a halide atom, comprising reacting at a pH of 6 to 10 said acridinium ester and a superoxide anion produced in situ by electrochemical reduction of oxygen dissolved in an electrolyte using electrodes in the presence of a flavin compound, wherein said acridinium ester is attached as a label to a reagent in said immunoassay, hybridization may or immunoblot assay.