Electrochemical and Spectroelectrochemical Behaviors of Vitamin K1/Lipid Modified Electrodes and the Formation of Radical Anion in Aqueous Media

The electrochemical properties of the liposoluble vitamin $K_1$ adsorbed on bare and lipid coated glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) were studied in unbuffered and well buffered aqueous media. The reduction products of vitamin $K_1$ were characterized by employing cyclic voltammetry and the in situ UV-visible spectroelectrochemical technique. The radical species of vitamin $K_1$ cannot be observed at the bare GCEs in well buffered media. The formation of the anion radical of vitamin $K_1$ was observed in unbuffered solutions above pH 5.9 or at the lipid coated GCE in a well-buffered solution. UV-visible absorption bands of neutral vitamin $K_1$ were observed at 260 nm and 330 nm, and a band corresponding to the anion radical species was observed at 450 nm. The derivative cyclic voltabsorptometric (DCVA) curves obtained for electrochemical reduction of vitamin $K_1$ confirmed the presence of both neutral and anion radical species. The anion radical of vitamin $K_1$ formed at the hydrophobic conditions with phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipid coated electrode was stable enough to be observed in the spectroelectrochemical experiments.