The most active form of sulfur in biomolecules is the thiol group, present in a number of biologically active compounds. Here we present a comprehensive study of thiol analysis using flow injection analysis/HPLC with electrochemical detection. The effect of different potentials of working electrodes, of organic solvent contents in the mobile phase, and of isocratic and gradient elution on simultaneous determination of thiol compounds (cysteine, cystine, N-acetylcysteine, homocysteine, reduced and oxidised glutathione, desglycinephytochelatin, and phytochelatins) are described and discussed. These thiol compounds were well separated and detected under optimised HPLC-electrochemical detection conditions (mobile phase: 80 mM trifluoroacetic acid and methanol with a gradient profile starting at 97:3 (TFA:methanol), kept constant for the first 8 min, then decreasing to 85:15 during one minute, kept constant for 8 min, and finally increasing linearly up to 97:3 from 17 to 18 min; the flow rate was 0.8 mL/min, column and detector temperature 25 degrees C, and the electrode potential 900 mV). We were able to determine tens of femtomoles (3 S/N) of the thiols per injection (5 microL), except for phytochelatin5 whose detection limit was 2.1 pmole. This technique was consequently used for simultaneous determination of compounds of interest in biological samples (maize tissue and human blood serum).

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Acetylsalicylic acid (AcSA), or aspirin, was introduced in the late 1890s and has been used to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions. The aim of this work was to suggest electrochemical sensor for acetylsalicylic detection. Primarily, we utilized square wave voltammetry (SWV) using both carbon paste electrode (CPE) and of graphite pencil electrode (GPE) as working ones to indirect determination of AcSA. The principle of indirect determination of AcSA bases in its hydrolysis on salicylic acid (SA), which is consequently detected. Thus, we optimized both determination of SA and conditions for AcSA hydrolysis and found out that the most suitable frequency, amplitude, step potential and the composition and pH of the supporting electrolyte for the determination of SA was 260 Hz, 50 mV, 10 mV and Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 1.81), respectively. The detection limit (S/N = 3) of the SA was 1.3 ng/ml. After that, we aimed on indirect determination of AcSA by SWV CPE. We tested the influence of pH of Britton-Robinson buffer and temperature on yield of hydrolysis, and found out that 100% hydrolysis of AcSA was reached after 80 minutes at pH 1.81 and 90°C. The method for indirect determination of AcSA has been utilized to analyse pharmaceutical drug. The determined amount of AcSA in Sensors 2006, 6 1484 the pharmaceutical drug was in good agreement with the declared amounts. Moreover, we used GPE for determination of AcSA in a pharmaceutical drug. Base of the results obtained from stationary electrochemical instrument we used flow injection analysis with electrochemical detection to determine of salicylates (SA, AcSA, thiosalicylic acid, 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and 5-sulfosalicylic acid -SuSA). We found out that we are able to determine all of detected salicylates directly without any pre-treatment, hydrolysis and so on at units of femtomoles per injection (5 µl).