Electrocatalytic detection of polysaccharides at picomolar concentrations

Electroinactive polysaccharides (PS) modified by osmium(VI) complexes with nitrogenous ligands produce redox couples at carbon and mercury electrodes. We show that PS adducts with Os(VI) 2,2'-bipyridine produce at ~-1.2 V (against Ag/AgCl/3 M KCl electrode) an additional peak at mercury and solid amalgam electrodes. This peak is due to the catalytic hydrogen evolution, allowing detection of PS (such as dextran and mannan) at picomolar concentrations.