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Electrochemical Recognition of Chiral Molecules with Poly(4‐bromoaniline) Modified Gold Electrode
Author(s) -
Li Jun,
Hu Xuefeng,
Wang Jichang
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
electroanalysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1521-4109
pISSN - 1040-0397
DOI - 10.1002/elan.201300182
Subject(s) - electrode , molecule , electrochemistry , steric effects , materials science , polymerization , enantiomer , combinatorial chemistry , chemistry , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polymer , engineering
A poly(4‐bromoaniline) (PBA) film is electrochemically synthesized on a gold electrode for the recognition of amino acids enantiomers. Scanning electron microscopy measurements show that the porous PBA films are made up of nano‐ribbons. At the PBA modified Au electrode differential pulse voltammograms of L ‐ and D ‐glutamic acids not only have very different current densities, but also produce different waveforms, providing an intuitive way to differentiate the two chiral molecules. Similar results are obtained in analyzing L ‐ and D ‐aspartic acids. Control experiments suggest that the observed sensing behavior arises from synergistic interactions between Au and the PBA film, where polymerization at the meta ‐position creates a steric structure needed for differentiating chiral molecules.