An Attempt to Detect Higher Ion-Ion Correlations (Microheterogeneity) in Aqueous Solutions of Rb and Cs Halides

Simulations of cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric electrode responses at a disk electrode using combinations of spherical and cylindrical electrode geometries

Using geometric models based on one-dimensional transport at spheres and cylinders, three methods for improving the simulation of voltammetric behavior of a disk electrode have been explored. One method is based on the common assumption of equivalency between the limiting currents for a disk and a hemisphere under steady-state diffusion conditions. The second method involves the use of a partial-sphere geometry which is a better approximation that is suitable at the extreme diffusional limits achievable at a disk electrode of fully planar and steady-state transport. The third method, which is generally applicable, is a further refinement that uses a combination of appropriate one-dimensional spherical and cylindrical geometries. The results demonstrate that reasonably accurate approximations of disk behavior for several reaction mechanisms can be achieved in a fraction of the time required to compute the more rigorous two-dimensional model. We propose that the approximation serve primarily as a fast way to explore system behavior and establish approximate values of the relevant parameters. More accurate computations can then be performed using the two-dimensional model.

Oxidation kinetics of guanine in DNA molecules adsorbed onto indium tin oxide electrodes

Oligonucleotides containing the guanine nucleobase were adsorbed onto ITO electrodes from mixtures of DMF and acetate buffer. Chronocoulometry and chronoamperometry were performed on the modified electrodes in both phosphate buffer and buffer containing low concentrations of the inorganic complex Ru(bpy)3(2+) (bpy = 2,2' bipyridine), which catalyzes guanine oxidation. The charge and current evolution with and without the catalyst were compared to the charge and current evolution for electrodes that were treated with identical oligonucleotides that were substituted at every guanine with the electrochemically inert nucleobase hypoxanthine. Chronocoulometry over 2.5 s shows that roughly 2 electrons per guanine were transferred to the electrode in both the presence and absence of Ru(bpy)3(2+), although at a slower rate for the uncatalyzed process. Chronoamperograms measured over 250 ms can be fit to a double exponential decay, with the intensity of the fast component roughly 6-20 times greater than that of the slow component. First- and second-order rate constants for catalytic and direct guanine oxidation were determined from the fast component. The maximum catalytic enhancement for immobilized guanine was found to be i(cat)/i(d) = 4 at 25 microM Ru(bpy)3(2+). The second-order rate constant for the catalyzed reaction was 1.3 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1), with an apparent dissociation constant of 8.8 microM. When compared to parallel studies in solution, a smaller value of the dissociation constant and a larger value of the second-order rate constant are observed, probably due to distortion of the immobilized DNA, an increase in the local negative charge due to the oxygen sites on the ITO surface, and redox cycling of the catalyst, which maintains the surface concentration of the active form.