Monolayer covalent modification of 5-hydroxytryptophan on glassy carbon electrodes for simultaneous determination of uric acid and ascorbic acid

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) was covalently grafted on the surface of glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) using cyclic voltammetric method in a phosphate buffer solution. The prepared electrode, denoded as 5-HTP/GCE, was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Tryptophan grafted GCE (TRP/GCE) and 5-hydroxytryptamine grafted GCE (5-HTP/GCE) were also prepared by the same method for comparison. It was found that the electrocatalytic activities toward the oxidation of uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA) was in the order of 5-HT/GCE > 5-HTP/GCE > TRP/GCE for UA oxidation and 5-HT/GCE = 5-HTP/GCE > TRP/GCE for AA oxidation. However, the CV current sensitivity was estimated as 4:2:1 for 5-HTP/GCE:5-HT/GCE:TRP/GCE. The DPV peaks for UA and AA oxidation appeared at 0.07 V and 0.34 V versus SCE, respectively, allowing simultaneous determination in mixtures. A linearly response in the range of: 5.0 × 10−7 to 1.1 × 10−5 M with the detection limit (s/n = 3) of 2.8 × 10−7 M for UA determination, and a linear response in the range of: 5.0 × 10−6 to 1.0 × 10−4 M with the detection limit of 4.2 × 10−6 M for AA determination were obtained. This electrode was used for UA and AA determinations in human urine samples satisfactorily.