<p>In this study two medicinal plant species, namely Galenia africana and Elytropapus rhinocerotis, the former belonging to the family Aizoceae and the latter belonging to the family Asteraceae, have been investigated and different compounds isolated and characterized. Both species are important plants used in traditional medicine in Africa and particularly in South Africa. Flavanoids are secondary metabolites found in plants. They have a protective function against UV radiation and have a defence against invading illnesses due to their important antioxidant activity. Much of the food we eat and some beverages we drink contain flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrochemistry of flavanoids isolated from these species.</p>

<p>Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance condition that results in the flattening of the villi, which line the bowel. It is the most common cause of malabsorption of food nutrients. This inability to absorb sufficient levels of nutrients causes many of the common symptoms experienced by CD patients. Some of the symptoms, which lead to an increase in mortality rate, include chronic diarrhea, fatigue, iron-deficient anemia and osteoporosis. People with CD have higher than normal levels of certain antibodies in their blood. Thus, the concentration of anti-transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG) in human sera is an important analytical marker for the diagnosis of CD. An immunosensor is a type of biosensor that has an antigen or antibody fragment as its biological recognition component. The specificity of the molecular recognition of antigens by antibodies to form a stable complex is the basis of immunosensor technology. In this work, overoxidized polypyrrole (OvoxPpy) was electrosynthesized as a noval sensor platform on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The OvoxPpy was then doped with gold-nanoparticles (GNP) by electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry to form GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE electrode system. Morphology and size of the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE nanocomposite were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical immunosensor for anti-tTG antibodies was prepared by immobilizing transglutaminase antigen (tTG-antigen) onto the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE by drop coating and allowed to incubate for 2 hrs. The electrochemical characterization of the nanocomposite platform and immunosensor were studied by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)...</p>

A novel cyclopentadienylruthenium(II) thiolato Schiff base, [Ru(SC6H4NC(H)C6H4OCH2CH2SMe)(&eta / 5-C2H5]2 was synthesized and deposited as a selfassembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode. Effective electronic communication between the Ru(II) centers and the gold electrode was established by electrostatically cycling the Shiff base-doped gold electrode in 0.1 M NaOH from -200 mV to +600 mV. The SAMmodified gold electrode (Au/SAM) exhibited quasi-reversible electrochemistry. The integrity of this electro-catalytic SAM, with respect to its ability to block and electro-catalyze certain Faradaic processes, was interrogated using Cyclic and Osteryoung Square Wave voltammetric experiments. The formal potential, E0', varied with pH to give a slope of about - 34 mV pH-1. The surface concentration, &Gamma / , of the ruthenium redox centers was found to be 1.591 x 10-11 mol cm-2. By electrostatically doping the Au/SAM/Horseradish peroxidase at an applied potential of +700 mV vs Ag/AgCl, a biosensor was produced for the amperometric analysis of hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide. The electrocatalytic-type biosensors displayed typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics with their limits of detection of 6.45 &mu / M, 6.92 &mu / M and 7.01 &mu / M for hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide respectively.

A novel cyclopentadienylruthenium(II) thiolato Schiff base,[Ru(SC6H4NC(H)C6H4OCH2CH2SMe)(η5-C2H5]2 was synthesized and deposited as a selfassembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode. Effective electronic communication between the Ru(II) centers and the gold electrode was established by electrostatically cycling the Shiff base-doped gold electrode in 0.1 M NaOH from -200 mV to +600 mV. The SAMmodified gold electrode (Au/SAM) exhibited quasi-reversible electrochemistry. The integrity of this electro-catalytic SAM, with respect to its ability to block and electro-catalyze certain Faradaic processes, was interrogated using Cyclic and Osteryoung Square Wave voltammetric experiments. The formal potential, E0', varied with pH to give a slope of about - 34 mV pH-1. The surface concentration, Γ, of the ruthenium redox centers was found to be 1.591 x 10-11 mol cm-2. By electrostatically doping the Au/SAM/Horseradish peroxidase at an applied potential of +700 mV vs Ag/AgCl, a biosensor was produced for the amperometric analysis of hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide. The electrocatalytic-type biosensors displayed typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics with their limits of detection of 6.45 μM, 6.92 μM and 7.01 μM for hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide respectively / Magister Scientiae - MSc

Magister Scientiae - MSc / A novel cyclopentadienylruthenium(II) thiolato Schiff base, [Ru(SC6H4NC(H)C6H4OCH2CH2SMe)(η5-C2H5]2 was synthesized and deposited as a selfassembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode. Effective electronic communication between the Ru(II) centers and the gold electrode was established by electrostatically cycling the Shiff base-doped gold electrode in 0.1 M NaOH from -200 mV to +600 mV. The SAMmodified gold electrode (Au/SAM) exhibited quasi-reversible electrochemistry. The integrity of this electro-catalytic SAM, with respect to its ability to block and electro-catalyze certain Faradaic processes, was interrogated using Cyclic and Osteryoung Square Wave voltammetric experiments. The formal potential, E0', varied with pH to give a slope of about - 34 mV pH-1. The surface concentration, &Gamma;, of the ruthenium redox centers was found to be 1.591 x 10-11 mol cm-2. By electrostatically doping the Au/SAM/Horseradish peroxidase at an applied potential of +700 mV vs Ag/AgCl, a biosensor was produced for the amperometric analysis of hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide. The electrocatalytic-type biosensors displayed typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics with their limits of detection of 6.45 M, 6.92 M and 7.01 M for hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide respectively. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance condition that results in the flattening of the villi, which line the bowel. It is the most common cause of malabsorption of food nutrients. This inability to absorb sufficient levels of nutrients causes many of the common symptoms experienced by CD patients. Some of the symptoms, which lead to an increase in mortality rate, include chronic diarrhea, fatigue, iron-deficient anemia and osteoporosis. People with CD have higher than normal levels of certain antibodies in their blood. Thus, the concentration of anti-transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG) in human sera is an important analytical marker for the diagnosis of CD. An immunosensor is a type of biosensor that has an antigen or antibody fragment as its biological recognition component. The specificity of the molecular recognition of antigens by antibodies to form a stable complex is the basis of immunosensor technology. In this work, overoxidized polypyrrole (OvoxPpy) was electrosynthesized as a noval sensor platform on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The OvoxPpy was then doped with gold-nanoparticles (GNP) by electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry to form GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE electrode system. Morphology and size of the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE nanocomposite were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical immunosensor for anti-tTG antibodies was prepared by immobilizing transglutaminase antigen (tTG-antigen) onto the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE by drop coating and allowed to incubate for 2 hrs. The electrochemical characterization of the nanocomposite platform and immunosensor were studied by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Charge transfer resistance, Rct (obtained from EIS data fitting) of [Fe (CN)6]3-/4- redox probe was used as the analytical parameter for measuring the interfacial kinetics which occurred as a result of the bio-recognition event (affinitive binding) between the tTG-antigen and anti-tTG antibody. Rct was found to increase with increased concentration of the antibody as a result of the reluctance to the flow of redox probe charge across the interface. Antibody concentration as low as in 1:4000 dilutions was detected. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / In this study two medicinal plant species, namely Galenia africana and Elytropapus rhinocerotis, the former belonging to the family Aizoceae and the latter belonging to the family Asteraceae, have been investigated and different compounds isolated and characterized. Both species are important plants used in traditional medicine in Africa and particularly in South Africa. Flavanoids are secondary metabolites found in plants. They have a protective function against UV radiation and have a defence against invading illnesses due to their important antioxidant activity. Much of the food we eat and some beverages we drink contain flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrochemistry of flavanoids isolated from these species. / South Africa

[pt] Neste trabalho foram desenvolvidas metodologias eletroanalíticas baseadas na voltametria adsortiva de redissolução catódica com varredura de potencial de onda quadrada e de pulso diferencial para a determinação do ciclofenil em urina e em formulações farmacêuticas, e na voltametria anódica com varredura de potencial de onda quadrada e de pulso diferencial para a determinação da primaquina em formulações farmacêuticas. Comparando-se as duas técnicas de aquisição, a voltametria de onda quadrada foi escolhida para realizar as determinações do ciclofenil em urina e em formulação farmacêutica por se mostrar, além de uma técnica mais rápida, maior sensíbilidade. Para a determinação da primaquina a melhor técnica foi à voltametria de pulso diferencial. As condições experimentais que possibilitaram um melhor desempenho analítico em termos da obtenção do menor limite de detecção e maior reprodutibilidade das leituras foram otimizados. No caso do ciclofenil, o composto mostrou ser instável no meio aquoso e orgânico para determinação voltamétrica, com sistemática diminuição da corrente faradaica. Assim, fez-se uso das propriedades eletroquímicas de um derivado estável obtido pela derivatização fotoquímica do composto (o composto foi irradiado com irradiação UV por 45 minutos em um reator fotoquímico), a corrente máxima obtida apresentou um potencial a -1,28 V. As condições experimentais que possibilitaram este sinal foram obtidas com 30 s de tempo de deposição do analito sobre o eletrodo de mercúrio, solução Britton-Robbinson pH 9,0 como eletrólito de suporte, potencial de acumulação de -0,9 V, amplitude de 250 mV, incremento de potencial de 2,0 mV no modo de onda quadrada. Desta forma foi obtido limite de detecção da ordem de 10-8 mol L-1, faixa linear dinâmica de 2 ordens de grandeza, condições estas que possibilitaram a determinação do composto tanto em formulações farmacêuticas (Menopax) como em amostra de urina enriquecida com o analito de interesse. Foram feitos testes com subtâncias concomitantes da formulação farmacêutica e constatou-se que não existia problema com interferência na análise nesse tipo de amostra. Nas determinações em urina não houve a necessidade de se fazer tratamento prévio da amostra, apenas a irradiação UV para estabilizar o composto, as análises foram realizadas com o método de adição de analito, de forma a se corrigir a interferência de matriz. Em ambos os casos os resultados obtidos se encontram na faixa de 93,6 a 106,5 por cento, dentro da faixa de recuperação aceitável para este tipo de problema analítico segundo estabelecido pela Farmacopéia dos Estados Unidos da América. Usou-se ainda os resultados provenientes das voltametrias de pulso diferencial, de voltametria de onda quadrada e da voltametria cíclica para se obter informações sobre o processo redox que ocorria no eletrodo de trabalho. Constatou-se que a reação é reversível, com um processo de controle adsortivo, sendo que apenas o reagente adsorve no eletrodo de trabalho, não ocorrendo adsorção do produto da reação de redução. Constatou-se também que o processo envolve a transferência de apenas 1 elétron, e que a reação não possuía contribuição cinética. No caso da primaquina o sinal de redução ocorre em região anódica (0,592 V), foi portanto necessário utilizar um eletrodo de carbono para se poder fazer a determinação da primaquina. Visando a possibilidade do uso do eletrodo de mercúrio, tentou-se fazer uso da formação de derivados complexos da primaquina com vanádio, com cobre ou com íon iodeto (complexo de tranferência de carga), porém não foram observados sinal da reação redox na janela de potencial procurada. Nas condições experimentais otimizadas não se / [en] In this work, square-wave and differential pulse voltammetric methods were developed for the determination of cyclofenil and primaquine in pharmaceutical formulations and in urine samples. The use of the square- wave acquisition technique was found to enable better sensitivity and faster analysis time compared to the differential pulse technique. Experimental and instrumental conditions were optimized to allow the best analytical performance in terms of limit of detection and repeatability of the readings. In the case of cyclofenil, its unstable behavior in aqueous and organic solvents, with systematic decreasing of analyte current signal, makes impossible any voltammetric determination. As an alternative way, the electrochemical properties of a stable photochemical derivative of cyclofenil was used (the compound was irradiated with UV radiation for 45 min) with maximum current at -1,28 V. This analyte photoderivative could also be accumulated in the working electrode. The experimental conditions that allowed the maximum current was a 30 s of deposition time at the mercury electrode, Britton- Robbinson (pH 9,0) supporting electrolyte, accumulation potential of -0,9 V, amplitude of pulse of 250 mV, scan increment 2,0 mV. These optimized conditions allowed a limit of detection of 10-8 mol L-1 and dynamic linear range of 2 orders of magnitude to be achieved. These analytical figures of merit made possible the determination of cyclofenil either in a pharmaceutical formulation (Menopax) and in urine samples spiked with the analyte of interest. The potential interferences from concomitant substances used in the pharmaceutical formulation were also evaluated. For the analyte determination in urine, only UV irradiation of sample was necessary, in order to obtain stable cyclofenil derivative. The analyte addition method was used to analyze urine in order to minimize matrix interferences. Recovery results for the analysis of Menopax and for the analysis of urine were between 96,5 and 107,6 percent, within the acceptable recovery range established by the United States Pharmacopoeia. Information concerning the analyte redox reaction and electrode processes was also obtained from differential pulse voltammetry, square-wave voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry. It was verified that the cyclofenil photoderivative eletrochemical reaction is reversible with adsorption of only the reagent on the surface of the electrode. The adsorption of the electrochemical reduction product does not occur. It was also verified that the process involves the transference of only one electron, and there is no kinetics contribution in the reaction. In the case of the primaquine the analyte reduction occurs in anodic region (0,592 V), therefore, it was necessary the use the carbon glass electrode to allow the determination of this analyte. The pre-concentration of the analyte in the working carbon glass electrode was also not attained with the experimental conditions used. Several attempts were made to make possible the use of the mercury electrode, including the formation of charge transfer complexes with iodine and complexation with vanadium. However no success was obtained. Using the carbon glassy electrode and DPV technique the determination of primaquine in pharmaceutical formulations and urine was performed with average recovery of 101.7 percent. Limit of detention of 1,0 x 10-6 mol L- 1 was obtained.

Filmes de óxidos de molibdênio, com ou sem a inclusão de metais, foram eletroquimicamente depositados sobre eletrodos de carbono vítreo em solução de Mo(VI) com pH ajustado em 2,5 ou 3,0. Estes filmes foram caracterizados por Soft X-ray Spectroscopy (SXS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) e Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS). A coordenação local dos sítios de Mo foram analizadas. As configurações estruturais locais do Mo foram avaliadas quando diferentes números de ciclos de potencial foram empregados na modificação dá superfície do eletrodo. Alguns metais (Pt, Pd, Rh e Cu) foram codepositados com as espécies de Mo e seu efeito nos materiais obtidos foi investigado. O grau de ocupação do orbital 4d do Mo foi examinado como um indicador da existência de interações entre o Mo e o metal codepositado. A incorporação de Pt no filme de óxidos na superfície de um eletrodo de ouro foi caracterizada por espectroscopia PIXE. O eletrodo modificado por óxidos de molibdênio foi estudado em faixas de potencial positivas frente à oxidação de nitrito (NO2-) e de óxido nítrico (NO). A relação entre a porosidade do filme e a presença de água em seus interstícios foi examinada e a capacidade de retenção de NO e NO2 foi também investigada. O eletrodo modificado foi usado como um sensor amperométrico em um sistema de injeção em fluxo (FIA) e o método foi empregado na determinação de nitrito em amostras de lingüiça. A oxidação de H2O2 foi investigada em superfície recoberta por filme de óxidos de Mo com Pt codepositada. O efeito do pH, do potencial e do tempo de pré-redução do filme de Pt e MoOx foi discutida. O comportamento eletroquímico dos filmes codepositados de Rh, Pd, Pt ou Cu e MoOx foi caracterizados comparativamente pela redução do iodato e pela oxidação do nitrito e do etanol nestes substratos. H4MogO26 foi empregado para preparar filmes contendo molibdênio e sua resposta eletroquímica foi comparada com as obtidas com o filme depositado por procedimento usual. O filme de óxidos de molibdênio foi usado com sucesso na imobilização de um complexos de Ru(III) na superfície de carbono vítreo. / Molybdenum oxide films with and without metal inclusion were electrochemically deposited on glassy carbon electrodes from Mo(VI) solutions at pH 2.5 or pH 3.0. These films were characterized by Soft X-ray Spectroscopy (SXS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS). The local coordination of Mo sites was analyzed. The Mo local structure configurations were evaluated when different number of potential cycles were employed in the modification of the electrode surface. Some metaIs (Pt, Pd, Rh and Cu) were codeposited with the Mo species and their effect on the obtained material was investigated. The occupancy leveI of the 4d orbital of Mo was examined as an indicator of interactions between Mo and codeposited metals. The incorporation of Pt in the oxide film at a gold electrode surface was characterized by PlXE spectroscopy. The electrode modified by molybdenum oxides was studied at positive potential ranges for the oxidation of nitrite (NO2-) and nitric oxide (NO). The relationship between the porosity of the film and its water content was exarnined and the entrapment of NO and NO2 was also investigated. The modified electrode was used as an amperometric sensor in a flow injection configuration and the method was employed in the deterrnination of nitrite in sausage samples. The oxidation of H2O2 was investigated at surfaces covered by the Mo filrn with codeposited Pt. The effect of pH and potential and time of pre-reduction on the response of the film with Pt was discussed. The electrochemical behaviour of codeposited films of Rh, Pd, Pt or Cu and Mo MoOx was characterized comparatively for the reduction of iodate and the oxidation of nitrite and ethanol. 4MogO26 was also employed to prepare films containing molybdenum and their electrochemical responses were compared with those obtained by using the film electrodeposited by the usual procedure. The molybdenum oxide film was successfully used for the immobilization of Ru(III) complex at glassy carbon surfaces.

The thesis is focused on the development of the electrochemical system with microfluidic platform for the detection of multiple biomarkers. It analyses the use of biomarkers for the early diagnosis of cancer. The theoretical part contains basic information about voltammetric methods and microfluidic systems. The practical part provides solutions to the microfluidic chips, including the description of the used materials, designs, methodologies of preparation and conclusions from the testing of the manufactured microfluidic systems. The thesis describes the lock-in electrochemical system which measures the response of 4 electrochemical cells simultaneously. For the electrochemical system measurements, an electrochemical chip consisting of 64 electrochemical cells was used. The results of the analysis include the processing of the system tests and detected voltammetric curves of the Fe2+/Fe3+ solution and cysteine.