NADH Electrooxidation Using Bis(1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) (2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)-Exchanged Zirconium Phosphate Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

We present a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified using the electron mediator bis(1,10‐phenanthroline‐5,6‐dione)(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium(II) ([Ru(phend)₂bpy]²⁺) exchanged into the inorganic layered material zirconium phosphate (ZrP). X‐Ray powder diffraction showed that the interlayer distance of ZrP increases upon [Ru(phend)₂bpy]²⁺ intercalation from 10.3 Å to 14.2 Å. The UV‐vis and IR spectroscopies results showed the characteristic peaks expected for [Ru(phend)₂bpy]²⁺. The UV‐vis spectrophotometric results indicate that the [Ru(phend)₂bpy]²⁺ concentration inside the ZrP layers increased as a function of the loading level. The exchanged [Ru(phend)₂bpy]²⁺ exhibited luminescence even at low concentration. Modified CPEs were constructed and analyzed using cyclic voltammetry. The intercalated mediator remained electroactive within the layers (E°′=–38.5 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, 3.5 M NaCl) and electrocatalysis of NADH oxidation was observed. The kinetics of the modified CPE shows a Michaelis–Menten behavior. This CPE was used for the oxidation of NADH in the presence of Bakers' yeast alcohol dehydrogenase. A calibration plot for ethanol is presented.     

Interaction of the mutagen ethidium bromide with DNA, using a carbon paste electrode and a hanging mercury drop electrode

The interaction of ethidium bromide (2,7-diamino-10-ethyl-9-phenylphenanthridinium bromide; EB) with double stranded (ds) calf thymus DNA and thermally denatured single stranded (ss) DNA was studied in solution and at the electrode surface by means of transfer voltammetry using a carbon paste electrode (CPE) as working electrode in 0.2 M acetate buffer, pH 5.0. As a result of intercalation of this dye between the base pairs of dsDNA, the characteristic peak of dsDNA, due to the oxidation of guanine residues, decreased and after a particular concentration of EB a new peak at +0.81 V appeared, probably due to the formation of a complex between dsDNA and EB. The non-intercalated EB gives another peak, but at an increased concentration of the dye. A similar behaviour was observed during the interaction of the dye with ssDNA.Furthermore, the interaction of EB with ds, ss and supercoiled (sc) DNA was studied at the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) surface by means of alternating current voltammetry in 0.3 M NaCl and 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 8.5) as supporting electrolyte. dsDNA yields a smaller peak at −1.42 V (peak III) compared to the one yielded by ssDNA, since the latter is a relaxed and more accessible form. By addition of EB into the buffer solution an increase of peak III was observed in the dsDNA form as well as in ssDNA resulting from their interaction with EB. Furthermore, the appearance of peak III in covalently closed circular scDNA after exposure to increasing concentrations of EB is a result of the introduction of ‘free ends’ in DNA affecting its structural integrity.     

Chemical species produced in the reaction between ethanedial (glyoxal) and 5-amino-1,10-phenanthroline and their iron(II) complexes: preparation and some spectrometric studies

Chemical species obtained by reaction of 5-amino-1, 10-phenanthroline with ethanedial (glyoxal) are reported with regard to their preparation, chemical composition and spectrometric characterization (UV-visible, infrared and liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry). Products of the reaction are postulated to be a mixture of species with molecular weights of 339, 371,480 and 524 u. Chemical reactions leading to these products and possible structural formulas for each of these species are presented. The iron complexes of these ligands, because of their extremely low solubility in most solvents, find application as redox mediators when incorporated in carbon paste electrodes, particularly for sensing in continuous-flow systems.     

An analysis of avidin, biotin and their interaction at attomole levels by voltammetric and chromatographic techniques

The electroanalytical determination of avidin in solution, in a carbon paste, and in a transgenic maize extract was performed in acidic medium at a carbon paste electrode (CPE). The oxidative voltammetric signal resulting from the presence of tyrosine and tryptophan in avidin was observed using square-wave voltammetry. The process could be used to determine avidin concentrations up to 3 fM (100 amol in 3 l drop) in solution, 700 fM (174 fmol in 250 l solution) in an avidin-modified electrode, and 174 nM in a maize seed extract. In the case of the avidin-modified CPE, several parameters were studied in order to optimize the measurements, such as electrode accumulation time, composition of the avidin-modified CPE, and the elution time of avidin. In addition, the avidin-modified electrode was used to detect biotin in solution (the detection limit was 7.6 pmol in a 6 l drop) and to detect biotin in a pharmaceutical drug after various solvent extraction procedures. Comparable studies for the detection of biotin were developed using HPLC with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and flow injection analysis with electrochemical detection, which allowed biotin to be detected at levels as low as 614 pM and 6.6 nM, respectively. The effects of applied potential, acetonitrile content, and flow rate of the mobile phase on the FIA-ED signal were also studied.     

Electrochemical Determination of Ascorbic Acid in Room Temperature Ionic Liquid BPPF6 Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

A room temperature ionic liquid N‐butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF₆) was used as a binder to make an ionic liquid modified carbon paste electrode (IL‐CPE), which showed good characteristics such as simple preparation procedure, fast electrochemical response and good conductivity. The electrochemical oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) on the new IL‐CPE was carefully studied. The oxidation peak potential of AA on the IL‐CPE appeared at 109 mV (vs. SCE), which was about 338 mV decrease of the overpotential compared to that obtained on the traditional carbon paste electrode (CPE) and the oxidation peak current was increased for about four times. The electrochemical parameters of AA on the IL‐CPE were calculated with the charge transfer coefficient (α) and the electrode reaction rate constant (k_s) as 0.87 and 0.800 s^?1, respectively. Based on the relationship of the oxidation peak current and the concentration of AA a sensitive analytical method was established with cyclic voltammetry. The linear range for AA determination was in the range from 1.0×10^?5 to 3.0×10^?3 mol/L with the linear regression equation as I_p (μA)=?2.52–0.064C (μmol/L) (n=13, γ=0.9942) and the detection limit was calculated as 8.0×10^?6 mol/L (3σ). The proposed method was free of the interferences of coexisting substances such as dopamine (DA) and amino acids etc., and successfully applied to the vitamin C tablets determination.     

Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotube Paste Electrodes: a Comparison with Carbon Paste,Platinum and Glassy Carbon Electrodes via Cyclic Voltammetric Data

A new carbon electrode material, obtained by mixing single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with a mineral oil binder is studied. Carbon nanotube pastes show the special properties of carbon nanotubes combined with the various advantages of composite electrodes such as a very low capacitance (background current) and the possibility of an easy preparation, modification and renewal. A better knowledge of the characteristics of electrode reactions at carbon nanotube paste (CNTP) electrodes was obtained studying the electron transfer rates of various redox couples under different pretreatment conditions. A critical comparison with carbon paste (CP), platinum (Pt) and glassy carbon (GC) electrodes was also carried out. Capacitance and resistance values were also calculated for all electrodes investigated. Both untreated and treated CNTP electrodes showed a low resistance while the capacitance was markedly reduced with CNTP electrodes previously treated with concentrated nitric acid. An electrochemical pretreatment on CNTP electrodes was developed which showed an excellent result towards two‐electron quinonic structure species. After this treatment the heterogeneous standard rate constants for p‐methylaminophenol sulfate (MAP) and dopamine resulted to be significantly higher (2.1×10^?2 cm/s and 2.0×10^?2 cm/s, respectively) than those obtained with the other electrodes studied. Reproducibility, stability and storage characteristics of CNTP electrodes were also reported.     

Carbon Paste Electrode for the Potentiometric Flow Injection Analysis of Drotaverine Hydrochloride in Serum and Urine

A carbon paste electrode for drotaverine hydrochloride (DvCl) was prepared and fully characterized in terms of composition, life span, usable pH range, response time and temperature. The electrode was applied to the potentiometric determination of drotaverinium ions in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids in steady state and flow injection conditions (FIA). The electrode is based on a mixture of two ion exchangers, namely, drotaverinium-silicotungestate and drotaverinium-tetraphenylborate dissolved in tricresyl phosphate as pasting liquid. The modified electrode showed a near-Nernstian slope of 59.34±2mV over the concentration range of 5.0×10^–7–1.0 × 10^–2M. The electrode exhibits good selectivity for DvCl with respect to a large number of inorganic cations, organic cations, sugars and amino acids. Potentiometric titrations of DvCl with several titrants have been monitored using this modified carbon paste electrode as an end-point indicator electrode. The proposed electrode offers the advantages of simplicity, accuracy, automation feasibility and applicability to turbid and colored samples.     

Voltamperometric determination of kinetin with a carbon paste modified electrode

The electrochemical behaviour of kinetin (6-furfurylaminopurine) on a carbon paste modified with OV-17 silicone electrode, is studied. The determination of kinetin is possible working in square wave voltammetric techniques, reaching limits of determination of 38.7 ng ml⁻¹. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine the cytokinin in extracts of apples (previously spiked with kinetin) and the obtained results were in accordance with the results obtained with HPLC-UV.     

Insoluble eggshell matrix proteins--their peptide mapping and partial characterization by capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography

Avian eggshell matrix proteins were studied by two analytical approaches. Peptide mapping was done by trypsin and pepsin followed by collagenase cleavage; analyses were carried out by capillary electrophoresis and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Comparison of peptide maps obtained by both methods revealed a complex mixture of peptides in the insoluble layers of the eggshell; it was concluded that there are at least three different insoluble protein/peptide layers in the avian eggshell (cuticle, palisade, and mammillary layer). Partial characterization of peptides in each layer was made by HPLC-mass spectrometry analysis. There is an evidence that the eggshell insoluble proteins contain species susceptible to collagenase cleavage, however, the sequences split by this enzyme probably are not those typical for the main triple-helical core of collagenous proteins. It is proposed that the action of collagenase upon eggshell proteins is caused by the side effect of collagenase described previously with synthetic peptides. Some of the proteins present are probably glycosylated. Fatty acid content in the insoluble eggshell layers (after decalcification) was in the range of 2-4% (which reflected both lipid and lipoproteins bound fatty acids). Porphyrin pigments are dominant in the cuticle layer.     

Electrocatalytic Determination of Vitamin C Using Calixarene Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

Effect of in situ complexation of some ions with variable valencies, like Co(II), Ni(II), Mn(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) on the the electrooxidation of Vitamin C (L ‐ascorbic acid) was studied by cyclic voltammetry using carbon paste electrodes modified with p‐tert‐butylcalix[4]arene and p‐tert‐butylcalix[6]arene in perchloric acid, acetic acid and ammonium acetate media. Pb(II) was found to bind strongly with p‐tert‐butylcalix[4]arene in acetate medium, resulting in its being retained at the electrode surface and catalyzing the oxidation of ascorbic acid. The overpotential was reduced by about 200 mV with an increase in the peak currents. Linearity was observed over the range of 0.07–400 ppm with a detection limit of 30 ppb by differential pulse voltammetry. Interferences of some common substances like sugars and amino acids were studied and the modified electrode was used for the determination of vitamin C in commercial samples.