Electrochemical recognition for tryptophan enantiomers based on 3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid–chitosan composite film

A novel and simple chiral sensing platform had been successfully fabricated by means of amidation reaction between 3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid (PTCA) and chitosan (CS) to form 3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid–chitosan (PTCA–CS) composite film. Since CS has chiral center and PTCA has excellent electrical conductivity, the PTCA–CS composite modified glassy carbon electrode (PTCA–CS/GCE) could be treated as an effective electrochemical chiral sensor and applied for chiral discrimination of tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers theoretically. PTCA–CS composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV). When the prepared chiral sensing interface interacted with tryptophan isomers, a higher selectivity was received from D-Trp by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). It indicated that the PTCA–CS/GCE can be treated as an electrochemical chiral sensor for the discrimination of Trp enantiomers. Further study demonstrated that the peak currents were linearly increased with the increasing percentage of L-Trp of Trp racemic mixture. Furthermore, the enantioselective interaction of the PTCA–CS/GCE was systematically studied by other experimental factors, such as the incubation time and acidity.