Covalent tethering of organic functionality to the surface of glassy carbon electrodes by using electrochemical and solid-phase synthesis methodologies.

Organic linkers such as (N-Boc-aminomethyl)phenyl (BocNHCH2C6H4) and N-Boc-ethylenediamine (Boc-EDA) have been covalently tethered onto a glassy carbon surface by employing electrochemical reduction of BocNHCH2C6H4 diazonium salt or oxidation of Boc-EDA. After removal of the Boc group, anthraquinone as a redox model was attached to the linker by a solid-phase coupling reaction. Grafting of anthraquinone to electrodes bearing a second spacer such as 4-(N-Boc-aminomethyl)benzoic acid or N-Boc-beta-alanine was also performed by following this methodology. The surface coverage, stability and electron transfer to/from the tethered anthraquinone redox group through the linkers were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The effects of pH and scan rate were studied, and the electron-transfer coefficient and rate constant were determined by using Laviron's equation for the different types of linker. The combination of electrochemical attachment of protected linkers and subsequent modifications under the conditions of solid-phase synthesis provides a very versatile methodology for tailoring a wide range of organic functional arrangements on a glassy carbon surface.