Investigation of electrochemical and indicator properties of chalcone type compounds

Chalcone-type molecules have important pharmacological properties in the treatment of many diseases. Two chalcone type compounds, 1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (Ch1) and 3-([1, 1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (Ch2) were prepared and their electrochemical and indicator properties were investigated. Electrochemical properties of Ch1 and Ch2 compounds on the carbon paste electrode in Britton Robinson (BR) buffer solutions were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) methods. The Ch1 compound showed an irreversible, well-defined oxidation peak at about 0.9 V (compared to Ag/AgCl) at pH 4 in 0.1 M BR buffer solution. Ch2, on the other hand, showed an irreversible, well-defined oxidation peak at about 0.5 V at pH 10. It was also determined that both Ch1 and Ch2 have indicator properties. The indicator properties of these compounds were examined with UV–Vis spectroscopic method, and their pK_ind values were determined as 7.6 for Ch1 and 10.0 for Ch2.