Target -responsive host-guest binding-driven dual-sensing readout for enhanced electrochemical chiral analysis

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Electrochemistry
• Pharmaceutical Analysis

Background:

• Chiral discrimination is crucial in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
• Developing convenient and efficient methods for enantioselective sensing remains a significant challenge.
• Existing methods often lack the sensitivity or simplicity required for widespread application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a dual-signaling enantioselective sensing strategy for chiral discrimination.
• To create a straightforward electrochemical chiral sensor using a competitive binding assay.
• To utilize beta-cyclodextrin and methylene blue as a probe for distinguishing naproxen enantiomers.

Main Methods:

• A competitive binding assay was employed.
• A dual-signaling electrochemical sensor was constructed using beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and methylene blue (MB).
• The sensor was tested using naproxen enantiomers (R- and S-naproxen) as model compounds.

Main Results:

• The sensor demonstrated enantioselective discrimination based on differential replacement of a redox probe by naproxen enantiomers.
• The optimized procedure allowed for the analysis of naproxen enantiomers in the range of 0.4–6.0 μM.
• The developed electrode exhibited enhanced electrochemical activity with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.07 μM, featuring both signal-on and signal-off capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The developed dual-signaling electrochemical sensor provides an efficient and straightforward method for chiral discrimination.
• This strategy offers a promising platform for engineering novel enantioselective electrochemical sensors.
• The findings have implications for pharmaceutical analysis and biotechnology, addressing the challenge of convenient chiral sensing.