Gold nanodendrite-based differential potential ratiometric sensing strategy for enantioselective recognition of DOPA

Numerous chiral drugs have been developed for neurological diseases, but chiral drug safety and pharmacological research still faces great challenges in enantioselectivity and sensitivity of chiral analysis. A rapid, stable and high-efficiency gold nanodendrite-based electrochemical sensing method was proposed as a versatile differential potential ratiometric strategy for highly selective chiral recognition of dual 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) enantiomers. Using simple electrochemical deposition, the gold nanodendrite (AuND) membrane was steadily modified on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with high specific chiral identifiability and robust signal amplifiability. Based on a sequence of systematic optimization, an apparent potential difference (PD) was detected up to 108 mV from oxidation peaks of DOPA enantiomers. Furthermore, according to a regulatable concentration range from 10 μM to 100 μM, different proportions of L-/d-DOPA had a good linear relationship with corresponding peak potentials (Eps) in the racemic mixture. Superior to traditional enantiorecognition of single chiral drug, both DOPA enantiomers enabled to be simultaneously distinguished with high repeatability, selectivity, and anti-interference ability on the AuND/GCE. This unique semi-quantitative AuND-based potential sensing strategy was proposed to efficiently quantify the proportion of L-/d-DOPA for chiral drug recognition, emerging positive potential for numerous applications in pharmacology and clinical diagnosis.