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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Electrochemical Preparation of Poly3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene Layers on Gold Microelectrodes for Uric Acid-Sensing Applications
Published on: July 28, 2021
Spectrophotometric, fluorimetric and electrochemical selective pyrophosphate/ATP sensing based on the
Raúl Villamil-Ramos1, Paola Gómez-Tagle2, Julio César Aguilar-Cordero2
1Centro de Investigaciones Químicas, IICBA, Universidad Autónoma Del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, 62209, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Abstract:
Sensing of pyrophosphate anion (PPi) in the presence of nucleotide triphosphates allows the real time monitoring of the polymerase chain reaction. To get a deeper understanding of the factors involved in PPi/nucleotide triphosphate discrimination, a detailed study on the performance of a dimethyltin (IV)-catecholate complex capable of both separate fluorimetric or electrochemical detection of PPi in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has been undertaken. Dimethyltin (IV) tightly binds PPi or ATP, and forms a stable 1:1 complex with tiron (4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid) in water. The complexation equilibria with all components are characterized quantitatively by potentiometric and spectroscopic titrations. Pyrophosphate anion can be detected owing to its ability to release free tiron from the complex by measuring either a fluorimetric or an electrochemical signal. On the contrary, ATP does not displace tiron but causes an interference with PPi in the fluorimetric detection method due to the formation of a ternary Me2Sn(IV)-tiron-ATP complex with optical properties intermediate between those of free and bound tiron. In the electrochemical (square wave voltammetry) method, the ternary ATP complex shows a separate peak which does not coincide with the peaks of neither free nor bound tiron, thus making possible the simultaneous detection of ATP in addition to PPi.
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