D. Brynn Hibbert

Characterisation of gold electrodes modified with self-assembled monolayers of l-cysteine for the adsorptive stripping analysis of copper

Electrochemical sensors for copper ions in environmental samples were prepared by modifying gold electrodes with l-cysteine by self-assembly. The adsorption of l-cysteine on gold electrodes was studied by electrochemical reductive desorption in 0.5 M KOH, and the interaction of l-cysteine with copper ions was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. At low concentrations the ratio of l-cysteine to bound Cu(II) is 2:1. At higher concentrations (0.1 M) copper reacts with adsorbed cysteine forming copper sulfide on the electrode surface. On a modified l-cysteine gold electrode, Osteryoung square wave voltammetric determination of Cu(II) with a detection limit below 5 ppb has been demonstrated.

The application of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers to enzyme electrodes

Abstract Recently the bonding of enzymes to self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols on gold surfaces has begun to receive attention as a method of constructing enzyme electrodes. This review highlights the features of SAMs which are applicable to enzyme immobilisation and the different immobilisation methods that can be used for constructing enzyme electrodes. An emphasis is placed on the ability of each method to produce reproducible enzyme electrodes and to give control over the molecular architecture of the sensor.

Experimental design in chromatography: a tutorial review.

The ability of a chromatographic method to successful separate, identify and quantitate species is determined by many factors, many of which are in the control of the experimenter. When attempting to discover the important factors and then optimise a response by tuning these factors, experimental design (design of experiments, DoE) gives a powerful suite of statistical methodology. Advantages include modelling by empirical functions, not requiring detailed knowledge of the underlying physico-chemical properties of the system, a defined number of experiments to be performed, and available software to accomplish the task. Two uses of DoE in chromatography are for showing lack of significant effects in robustness studies for method validation, and for identifying significant factors and then optimising a response with respect to them in method development. Plackett-Burman designs are widely used in validation studies, and fractional factorial designs and their extensions such as central composite designs are the most popular optimisers. Box-Behnken and Doehlert designs are becoming more used as efficient alternatives. If it is not possible to practically realise values of the factors required by experimental designs, or if there is a constraint on the total number of experiments that can be done, then D-optimal designs can be very powerful. Examples of the use of DoE in chromatography are reviewed. Recommendations are given on how to report DoE studies in the literature.

Genetic algorithms in chemistry

Abstract Genetic algorithms (GAs), a set of optimisation techniques, are so called after their similarity to evolutionary processes in nature. The algorithms equivalents of genes and chromosomes are the unknown parameters of the problem and these may be mated and mutated to give better solutions. The major strengths of GAs, namely the ability to search a large parameter space with no initial guesses per se, no derivatives of the objective function and to cope with local minima, make it a candidate method for several areas of chemistry. Chemical problems that have been tackled by GAs are described and suggestions for new applications are made. Subroutines in object-oriented Pascal are given to set up a simple GA.

Evidence for the Direct Interaction Between Methylene Blue and Guanine Bases Using DNA-Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

It is explored that methylene blue interacts with the guanine bases specifically, rather than the bases of ss-DNA in general. This interaction can be used as a method of quantifying the amount of oligonucleotide that is immobilized onto an electrode surface.

Exploring the use of the tripeptide Gly–Gly–His as a selective recognition element for the fabrication of electrochemical copper sensors

The modification of electrodes with the tripeptide Gly-Gly-His for the detection of copper in water samples is described in detail. The tripeptide modified electrode was prepared by first self-assembling 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) onto the gold electrode followed by covalent attachment of the tripeptide to the self-assembled monolayer using carbodiimide coupling. The electrodes were characterized using electrochemistry, a newly developed mass-spectrometry method and quantum mechanical calculations. The mass spectrometry confirmed the modification to proceed as expected with peptide bonds formed between the carboxylic acids of the MPA and the terminal amine of the peptide. Electrochemical measurements indicated that approximately half the MPA molecules in a SAM are modified with the peptide. The peptide modified electrodes exhibited high sensitivity to copper which is attributed to the stable 4N coordinate complex the peptide formed around the metal ion to give copper the preferred tetragonal coordination. The formation of a 4 coordinate complex was predicted using quantum mechanical calculation and confirmed using mass spectrometry. The adsorption of the copper to the peptide modified electrode was consistent with a Langmuir isotherm with a binding constant of (8.1 +/- 0.4) 10(10) M(-1) at 25 degrees C.

Parameters important in tuning the response of monolayer enzyme electrodes fabricated using self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiols

Enzyme electrodes were observed experimentally to have a broad dynamic range, high sensitivity and excellent reproducibility. The theoretically predicted response of the monolayer enzyme electrodes was in good agreement with that observed experimentally over the broad range of experimental conditions tested. The response is limited by the rate of enzyme turnover by a mediating species rather than mass transport. As a consequence of this limitation, the response was very sensitive to the enzyme loading and the concentration of mediator in the sample solution but insensitive to mass transport variables such as solution stirring or the diffusion coefficients of the substrate or cosubstrate.

The death of the Job plot, transparency, open science and online tools, uncertainty estimation methods and other developments in supramolecular chemistry data analysis

Data analysis is central to understanding phenomena in host-guest chemistry. We describe here recent developments in this field starting with the revelation that the popular Job plot method is inappropriate for most problems in host-guest chemistry and that the focus should instead be on systematically fitting data and testing all reasonable binding models. We then discuss approaches for estimating uncertainties in binding studies using case studies and simulations to highlight key issues. Related to this is the need for ready access to data and transparency in the methodology or software used, and we demonstrate an example a webportal () that aims to address this issue. We conclude with a list of best-practice protocols for data analysis in supramolecular chemistry that could easily be translated to other related problems in chemistry including measuring rate constants or drug IC50 values.

Metrological traceability of measurement results in chemistry: Concepts and implementation (IUPAC Technical Report)

This IUPAC study aims at formulating recommendations concerning the metrological traceability of a measurement result in chemistry. It is intended to provide the chemical measurement community with a consistent view of the creation, meaning, and role of metrological traceability and its underpinning concepts. No distinction is made between measurement results obtained in “high metrology” and in the “field”. A description is given of the calibration hierarchies needed in different circumstances to arrive at metrological traceability along a metrological traceability chain. Flow charts of generic calibration hierarchies are presented as well as a variety of examples. The establishment, assessment, and reporting of metrological traceability are discussed, including the provision of metrological references by a metrological institutional framework and the role of interlaboratory comparisons.

Redox voltammetry of sub-parts per billion levels of Cu2+ at polyaspartate-modified gold electrodes

An electrochemical sensor for the detection of Cu2+ is reported which incorporates poly-l-aspartic acid (PLAsp) with 32–96 aspartate units as a selective ligand for the metal ion. PLAsp is covalently attached to a gold electrode modified with a monolayer of 3-mercaptopropionic acid using carbodiimide coupling via an N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester intermediate. The acid side groups and deprotonated peptide nitrogens on two aspartate moieties are thought to be primarily responsible for chelation of Cu2+, which remains bound when reduced to Cu+. A consequence of the multiple binding points that are available with a polypeptide is the low detection limit. The lowest concentration detected was 3 nM (0.2 ppb) achieved with Osteryoung square wave voltammetry. This detection limit compares favourably with that of ICP-OES and previously reported cysteine-modified electrodes. Analysis of tap and lake water samples using the PLAsp-modified electrode agreed well with ICP-OES analysis of the same samples.