Ratiometric electrochemical molecular switch for sensing hypochlorous acid: Applicable in food analysis and real-time in-situ monitoring

A ratiometric electrochemical molecular sensing platform for real-time quantification of extracellular hypochlorous acid (HClO) production has been developed based on a latent electrochemical probe aminoferrocene thiocarbamate (AFTC 3). The substrate AFTC consist of a masked redox reporter amino ferrocene (AF 4) linked with a dimethylthiocarbamate trigger via hydroxyl benzyl alcohol. The conceptual idea behind the probe design is based on a specific chemical interaction between HClO and dimethylthiocarbamate, which allows only HClO to unmask the probe to releases AF. The scheme was manipulated to establish a highly selective (in presence of various reactive oxygen species, anions and other biological interfering species) and sensitive (detection limit 75 nM) sensing platform not only in lab samples but also in real samples (food samples, and live cells). Real-time in situ quantification platform was developed to profile HClO productions in macrophages, and it did so with great consistency.