A chiral electrochemical sensor for propranolol based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes/ionic liquids nanocomposite

A novel chiral electrochemical sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/ionic liquids (ILs) nanocomposite was developed and applied to the enantiomeric recognition of propranolol (PRO). Mechanisms for chiral sensing were discussed in terms of the formation of an efficient chiral nanospace originating from the weak interactions between quasi-chiral MWCNTs and versatile ILs. This work provided new evidence that the electro-oxidation of PRO should result from its hydroxyl group. Herein the ratio of oxidation peak currents, instead of the commonest shift of peak potential, was used to sense the enantiomeric fraction (EF) of (R)-PRO with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9936. This simple and reliable sensor was successfully applied in an accurate determination of the enantiomeric purity of reagent, as well as the evaluation of waste water treatment efficiency. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.