Electroanalytical approaches to understanding benzene metabolism

Abstract

Electrochemical techniques are ideally suited to the study of the metabolism of aromatic xenobiotics because the metabolites are frequently easier to oxidize than the parent compounds. In many cases, the trace metabolites have the lowest oxidation potentials and hence electrochemical methods have the greatest selectivity for these compounds. The sensitivity of dual-electrode liquid chromatography-electrochemistry for the detection and identification of trace metabolites was demonstrated by the detection of the secondary metabolite, hydroquinone, in a microsomal incubation containing benzene and ascorbic acid. The use of an electrochemical detector in a series configuration provides increased selectivity for chemically reversible metabolites such as hydroquinone. Electrochemical methods can also be used to generate metabolites. The products of the electrochemical oxidation of phenol and biphenol are compared with those generated in a peroxidase incubation.