A luminescence reaction by mixing tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) (Ru(bpy) 3 3+ ) with ketones in an aqueous solution or mixture of an aqueous solution and an organic solvent is described. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of chemiluminescence produced from the formation of Ru(bpy) 3 2+ * upon mixing of electrogenerated Ru(bpy) 3 3+ with ketones, such as 2-propanone, 2-butanone and 2,3-pentanedione.Thermal electron-transfer reactions of transition metal complexes, such as Ru(bpy) 3 2+ , in different oxidation states often result in a metal-to-ligand chargetransfer excitation state, with subsequent light emission from the solution. Chemiluminescence has been shown to occur both during the oxidation of Ru(bpy) 3 1+ and upon the reduction of Ru(bpy) 3 3+ . Luminescence corresponding to the emission from Ru(bpy) 3 2+ * has been observed previously.1 Similar observations have also been made for the thermal reduction of Ru(bpy) 3 3+ with reducing agents, such as hydralazine 2 , and alkali (OH -) 3 as well as organic acids 4 , such as oxalate and pyruvate 5 , and trialkylamines.6 Similarly, the reactions of Ru(bpy) 3 1+ with oxidizing agents, such as 10-methylphenothiazine radical cation 7 and peroxydisulfate 8 , have been reported.In recent years, new oxidizing agents, such as alicyclic tertiary amines 9 and tryptophan 10 , have been described and applied to the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) determination of oxalate 11 and tryptophan 12 in biological samples, such as urine, plasma and brain.The ECL intensity was measured using a two-channel flow-injection (FIA) system consisting of a micropump (Seishin Pharm., Japan), a Rheodyne sample-injection valve (Cotati, CA, USA), an electrochemical reactor (ECR, homemade) 9 , and a chemiluminescence detector (LC30-DPC10, Nihon Denshi Co., Japan). In controlled current (galvanostatic) electrolysis, the current was maintained at 80 µA with a potentio-galvanostat (HA-101, Hokutodenkou, Japan). These components were connected with Teflon spaghetti tubing (0.3 mm i.d.). Ketones were obtained from Tokyo Kasei (Tokyo, Japan), while tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium dichloride was obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). All other reagents and solvents used were of guaranteed grade. Water was deionized and distilled using a hardglass vessel. Stock solutions of ketones were prepared by dissolution in water-methanol (1:1, v/v) at 10 mM and appropriately diluted with the carrier solution before use. Ru(bpy) 3 2+ solution was dissolved to 0.3 mM in 10 mM H 2 SO 4 . The carrier solution was a mixture of 10 mM phosphate buffer-acetonitrile (1:1, v/v).The luminescence reaction between electrogenerated Ru(bpy) 3 3+ and ketones was studied using the FIA to sensitively and reproducibly introduce ketones into the luminescence detection system. A variety of experimental conditions were examined in this manner. As previously reported, the ECL intensity of the Ru(bpy) 3 2+ luminescence reaction is very dependent on the pH.9,10 The pH dependence on the ECL intensity was investigate...