Chemical sensing of chalcones by voltammetry: trans-Chalcone, cardamonin and xanthohumol

Xanthohumol (XN) and cardamonin (CD) belong to the chemical class of chalcones which are phenolic compounds of large interest due to their health promoting properties. In the present work, their electrochemical behavior on a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) is compared to trans-chalcone by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). The electrochemical reductions of XN and CD are overall irreversible processes with a mixed adsorptive and diffusive response. All the substituents that XN and CD possess seem to stabilize the ethylenic linkage between the aryl groups making the compound's reduction more difficult to occur.

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► Voltammetry can be a valuable tool in the chemical sensing of chalcones.
► The electrochemical reductions of chalcones are in overall irreversible processes with a mixed adsorptive and diffusive response.
► The substituents that xanthohumol and cardamonin possess seem to stabilize the ethylenic linkage between the aryl groups.
► Thus, xanthohumol and cardamonin are more difficult to be reduced than trans-chalcone.