Electrocatalytic oxidation of N-acetyl-L-cysteine at the modified carbon paste electrode

N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (N-AC) comes from the amino acid L-cysteine, which has many medical applications. It is better to use N-AC instead of paracetamol and its consumption is benefit for chest pain, bile duct blockage in infants, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, alzheimer s disease and eye infection (keratoconjunctivitis). N-AC is a building block for antioxidants[1]. Recently, porous materials has obtained great attention and been extensively employed in analytical applications. As a special class of semiconductor nanomaterials, mesoporous silica materials offer high specific surface areas, ordered pore structures, narrow pore-size distribution, porous channels, and controlled particle size[2]. Due to the large oxidation potential, its corresponding voltammetry signals on the surface of the unmodified electrodes are usually weak. Therefore, it is pertinent to explore and develop simple and reliable methods to fabricate new modified electrodes for the oxidation and determination of this compound[3]. In this study, carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with 4,4′-Biphenol and BF3-MCM-41 was developed for the electrochemical determination of N-AC. The 4,4′-Biphenol/BF3-MCM-41/CPE, acting as an electrochemical sensor. The results showed that 4,4′-Biphenol / BF3-MCM-41 /CPE has high electrocatalytic activity for the electro oxidation of N-AC in aqueous buffer solution (pH =7.0). Detection of N-AC based on 4,4′-Biphenol /BF3-MCM-41/CPE were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and differential puls voltammetry. Based on the differential puls voltammetry results the detection limit of N-AC was obtained 0.33 µM.