Oxidation and flow-injection amperometric determination of 5-hydroxytryptophan at an electrode modified by electrochemically assisted deposition of a sol–gel film with templated nanoscale pores

The oxidation of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTPP) yielded a passivating polymeric film at an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. Coating ITO with a nanoscale sol–gel film with a mesoporous structure was shown to change the pathway of the chemical reaction coupled to the electron transfer. The sol–gel film was deposited by an electrochemically assisted process, and the mesoporosity was imparted by including generation-4 poly(amidoamine) dendrimer in the precursor solution. The dendrimer was removed subsequently with an atmospheric oxygen plasma. This electrode remained active during cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential electrolysis of 5-HTPP, which was attributed to dimer, rather than polymer, formation from the oxidation product. Mass spectrometry confirmed this hypothesis. The anodic current was limited by the electron-transfer kinetics. Modification of the sol–gel film by inclusion of cobalt hexacyanoferrate, which catalyzes the oxidation, resulted in a diffusion-limited current. Determination of 5-HTPP by flow-injection amperometry had a detection limit of 17 nM.