LAUSR

We report the electrochemical deposition of a β-cyclodextrin pyrrole conjugate (Py-β-CD) on an electrode surface including i) characterization based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering and field-emission scanning electron microscopy; ii) studies of the molecular recognition of enantiomers of phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochlorides (Phe) based on linear sweep voltammetry and a quartz crystal microbalance. The PPy-β-CD polymeric layer on a metallic substrate is distinguished by its inhomogeneity, in which both highly ordered β-CD units and highly disordered polymer chains are observed. The voltammetric recognition results showed that PPy-β-CD exhibited a higher sensitivity for D-Phe (138�15)×10 than for L-Phe (6�1)×10 within the concentration range 0.1–0.75 mM (n=3) despite the differences in the polymer arrangement on the surface. A possible mechanism of molecular recognition of phenylalanine enantiomers is