Electrocatalytic characteristics of a 1-[4-(ferrocenyl ethynyl)phenyl]-1-ethanone modified carbon-paste electrode in the oxidation of ascorbic acid.

A carbon-paste electrode spiked with 1-[4-(ferrocenyl ethynyl)phenyl]-1-ethanone was constructed by the incorporation of 1-[4-(ferrocenyl ethynyl)phenyl]-1-ethanone in a graphite powder silicon oil matrix. It shown by cyclic voltammetry and double potential-step chronoamperometry, which this ferrocene derivative modified a carbon-paste electrode, can catalyze the ascorbic acid oxidation in an aqueous buffered solution. It has been found that under the optimum conditions (pH 7.00), the oxidation of ascorbic acid at the surface of this carbon paste modified electrode occurs at a potential of about 260 mV less positive than that of an unmodified carbon-paste electrode. The catalytic oxidation peak current was linearly dependent on the ascorbic acid concentration, and a linear calibration curve was obtained in the range of 6 x 10(-5) M-7 x 10(-3) M of ascorbic acid with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. The detection limit (2sigma) was determined to be 6.3 x 10(-5) M. This method was also used for the determination of ascorbic acid in some pharmaceutical samples, such as effervescent tablets, ampoules and multivitamin syrup, by using a standard addition method. The reliability of the method was established by a parallel determination against the official method.