A cyclodextrin-based approach for selective detection of catecholamine hormone mixtures

This paper presents an electrochemical sensing approach that enables quantitative detection of three major catecholamine hormones from a mixture by specifically employing a chemically-modified microelectrode array with α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrin (CD) ‘catchers’ holding unique physical matching (size and shape) as well as chemical enticing (stereochemistry and surface charge) properties. The developed neurotransmitter sensor has selectively identified L-tyrosine, dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) and dopamine in the absence of ascorbic acid. It exhibited the relatively linear sensitivities to each neurotransmitter with logarithmically increasing concentrations range of 5μM-10mM, while demonstrating stability up to 6 hours from the fabrication and the average accuracy of 91.2%.