Biological Electrochemistry

Problem 9.2 I Being good to your liver (Don t drink and drive) 

8 NADP , in a reaction with ethanol gets reduced to NADPH while oxidizing the alcohol to aldehyde 

What is this problem about Not exactly a Daniel cell but - on a closer view - not very different from it either ethanol gives away two electrons so ethanol is our zinc electrode. Then the rather complicated NADP molecule (of which we have shown only the l/7th part) must be the copper electrode. So there - problem solved. 

NADP /NADPH is the major redox molecular pair in living organisms. Remember this symbol NADP and NADPH. The oxidoreductive reaction given 

How do we know that two - and not one or three - electrons are needed to reduce a molecule of acetaldehyde to ethanol Take a look at the structural formulas of acetaldehyde and ethanol. Fig. 9.9. What do you see The electrochemical reaction occurs on Cl. It changes its formal oxidation state, FOx(C), from -i-l in acetaldehyde to -1 in ethanol, that is, by two electrons. For a reminder how to assign a formal oxidation state to carbon atom take a look at Fig. 9.9. A +1 formal charge is assigned to each C-H bond, a —1 charge to carbon atom connected to O, N, Cl, or other electronegative atom. Finally, a zero is assigned to a C-C bond. 

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This method is undisputedly the most important innovation in this field since the advent of the surface science founding methods AES and XPS in the 1960s [14]. It has revolutionized surface structure determination and is an extremely powerful method for investigating 2D molecular pattern formation. Applications also include biology, electrochemistry, solid state physics, as well as atomic and molecular manipulation. Although most of the studies... 

G. Dryhurst, K.M. Kadish, F.W. Scheller, R. Renneberg, Biological Electrochemistry, Vol. 1. Academic Press, New York, 1982. 

D. G. Peters, H. J. Schafer, M. S. Workentin, J. Yoshida (Eds) Reactive Intermediates in Organic and Biological Electrochemistry, The Electrochemical Society, Pennington, 2001. 

Aptamer-based assays opened new scenarios in the field of ana-l5 ical chemistry. New combinations of aptamer-based biosensors with innovative ideas in molecular biology, electrochemistry, and nanotechnologies are encouraged and expected with aim of developing easy, sensitive, selective, and fast analytical methods. 

He also emphasized the vast potential of biological electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry, for purposes such as electro-regeneration of co-enz3nnes. 

Chemistry chemical engineering bioengineering physics physical chemistry organic chemistry biochemistry molecular biology electrochemistry analytical chemistry photochemistry atmospheric chemistry agricultural chemistry industrial ecology toxicology. 

I wish to express my appreciation to all of the authors who contributed to this book project with in-depth review articles illustrating current trends in the research area of bioelectroanalysis. This timely collection of important activities in bioelectroanalytical research directions will be of interest not only for experts in the field but also to students and their teachers in disciplines that include analytical chemistry, biology, electrochemistry, and various interdisciplinary research areas. 

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