Ubiquinone electrochemistry in analysis and sensing

Abstract

Ubiquinone (UQ) is a lipophilic compound present in most living organisms,where UQ’s interesting but complex electrochemistry serves an important rolein the transfer of electrons and protons within and across the mitochondrialmembrane. We briefly review the electrochemical characteristics of UQ and itsreduced state, ubiquinol, in solution and immobilized on electrodes, togetherwith its application in electrochemical sensing and detection systems, for exam-ple, measuring redox status with reference to reactive oxidative species. Theimportance of the local environment, solvent, electrolyte, organic membrane,and pH, on the electrochemical behavior of UQ, is also discussed. We discusstechniques used for the direct detection of UQ such as liquid chromatography-electrochemistry. Mediated electrochemistry of UQ allows for quantitative mea-surements of ions, small molecules, and other analytes such as glucose via chem-ical sensors and biosensors.