Enantioselective detection of l-serine

An acoustic wave sensor coated with an artificial biomimetic recognition element has been developed to selectively detect the amino acid l-serine. A highly specific non-covalently imprinted polymer was cast on one electrode of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a thin permeable film. Selective rebinding of the l-serine was observed as a frequency shift in the QCM with a detection limit of 2 ppb and for concentrations up to 0.4 ppm. The sensor binding is shown to be capable of discrimination between l- and d-stereoisomers of serine as a result of the enantioselectivity of the imprinted binding sites.