Self-assembled monolayer of nickel(II) complex and thiol on gold electrode for the determination of catechin

Self-assembled monolayers of a nickel(II) complex and 3-mercaptopropionic acid on a gold electrode were obtained for determination of catechin by square wave voltammetry. The complex [NiIIL] with L = [N-(methyl)-N′-(2-pyridylmethyl)-N,N′-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-1,3-propanediamine[nickel(II)] was synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR, IR, and electronic spectroscopies and electrochemical methods. The optimized conditions obtained for the electrodes were 0.1 mol L−1 phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0), frequency of 80.0 Hz, pulse amplitude of 60.0 mV and scan increment of 10.0 mV. Under these optimum conditions, the resultant peak current on square wave voltammograms increases linearly with the concentration of catechin in the range of 3.31 × 10−6 to 2.53 × 10−5 mol L−1 with detection limits of 8.26 × 10−7 mol L−1. The relative standard deviation for a solution containing 1.61 × 10−5 mol L−1 catechin solution was 2.45% for eight successive assays. The lifetime of the Ni(II) complex–SAM-Au electrode was investigated through testing every day over 4 weeks. The results showed apparent loss of activity after 20 days. The results obtained for catechin in green tea samples using the proposed sensor and those obtained by electrophoresis are in agreement at the 95% confidence level.