Voltammetric Studies of Propranolol and Hydrochlorothiazide Oxidation in Standard and Synthetic Biological Fluids Using a Nitrogen-Containing Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon (ta-C:N) Electrode.

The electrochemical detection of two pharmaceuticals, propranolol (PROP) and hydrochlorothiazide (HTZ), was studied using a nitrogen-containing tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:N) electrode. Measurements were also made using a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode, for comparison. The ta-C:N electrode functioned well for the simultaneous determination of PROP and HTZ in artificial urine and serum by square-wave voltammetry, both of which were detected at high positive potentials. The PROP ( ca . 1.2 V) and HTZ ( ca. 1.4 V) oxidation peak potentials were separated by about 200 mV. The respective analytical response curves presented good linearity in the investigated concentration range from 0.9 to 9.8 μmol L −1 for PROP and from 3.0 to 9.8 μmol L −1 for HTZ with calculated limits of detection (S/N = 3) of 0.75 μmol L −1 (∼194 ng/mL) for PROP and 2.50 μmol L −1 (∼744 ng/mL) for HTZ. Essentially, the lowest concentration measured voltammetrically was the LOD. The results indicate that the ta-C:N electrode could be an excellent new carbon material for electrochemically-active analytes requiring high potentials for detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]