Electrochemiluminescent enantioselective detection with chiral-imprinted mesoporous metal surfaces

Chiral-imprinted mesoporous Pt-Ir alloy surfaces were combined in a synergetic way with electrochemiluminescence (ECL) to detect the two enantiomers of phenylalanine (PA) as a model compound, acting simultaneously as a chiral target and as a co-reactant to generate significant differences in ECL signals. The chiral features of the metal surfaces are converted into an enantioselective electrogeneration of the excited state of the [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ dye, which in fine produces the differentiating light emission with up to 20-fold differences in intensity for the two enantiomers. These findings open up the possibility of developing new ECL-based bioassays and microscopy of chiral environments.