Voltammetric determination of 2-aminofluoren-9-one and investigation of its interaction with DNA on a glassy carbon electrode

Voltammetric behavior of the genotoxic environmental pollutant 2-aminofluoren-9-one (2-AFN) was investigated using direct current voltammetry (DCV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in both negative and positive potential regions. For the determination of 2-AFN based on the cathodic reduction of the carbonyl group, optimum conditions were found in a methanol-Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer pH4.0 (1:9, v/v) medium, with the limits of quantification (L_Qs) of 0.4 and 0.2μmolL^-1 for DCV and DPV, respectively. For the determination of 2-AFN based on the anodic oxidation of the amino group, optimum conditions were found in a mixture of methanol-BR buffer pH8.0 (1:9, v/v), with the L_Qs of 0.8 and 0.6μmolL^-1 for DCV and DPV, respectively. The practical applicability of the newly developed voltammetric methods was verified on the direct determination of 2-AFN in model samples of drinking and river water. Moreover, the interaction between 2-AFN and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) was investigated by DPV (performed at the bare GCE when both dsDNA and 2-AFN were present in the measured solution) and square-wave voltammetry (SWV) (carried out at the dsDNA/GCE biosensor after its incubation in the solutions of 2-AFN for various times and at various concentrations of 2-AFN) to characterize damaging effects of the test substance on the dsDNA structure in vitro. The intercalation of 2-AFN between the dsDNA base pairs was the predominant supramolecular interaction observed.