Anal Bioanal Chem (2005) 381: 1321–1322 DOI 10.1007/s00216-005-3128-1

E D I T ORI AL

Giuseppe Palleschi

Kinetics in analytical chemistry

Published online: 24 March 2005 Ó Springer-Verlag 2005

Kinetic aspects of analytical chemistry, whilst being fundamental, remain almost a ‘‘hidden subject’’ that rarely gets explicit attention in the field. This issue brings together some contributions from the 8th International Symposium on Kinetics in Analytical Chemistry, held from the 8th to the 10th of July 2004 at Villa Mondragone, one of the most beautiful of the ‘‘Ville Tuscolane’’ just outside Rome. Owned by the University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’ since 1981, it was a particularly fitting venue for this conference, since it was here in 1582 that Pope Gregorius XIII signed the Bolla Inter Gravissima that replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian one still used today. Indeed, this ‘‘adjustment’’ was found to be necessary as a result of detailed kinetic analyses of solar and lunar movements. In his Plenary Lecture that opened the conference Stanley R. Croach, one of the key figures in the early development of kinetic methods, surveyed publications that deal in one way or another with kinetics or improved time resolution in the spectrophotometric and imaging techniques used for analysis. From this survey it was shown that kinetics are receiving increasing attention in general, with biosensing, miniaturisation and microfluidic approaches constituting some of the emerging trends. One of the techniques that has proven critical to advances in optical biosensing is surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which allows the determination of rate constants for binding interactions when one of the partners is immobilized on an appropriate surface.

G. Palleschi (&) Department of Chemical Science and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy E-mail: [email protected]

Application of SPR thus allows large-scale screening of antibodies, and is finding application in drug development. One of the challenges is to extend its use to increasingly lower molecular weight analytes. Several contributions published here reflect renewed attention to analytical strategies based on inhibition of enzymes or enzyme-linked biosensors. These approaches take advantage of the effects that many toxic substances and metals (as co-factors as well) naturally exert on enzymic activity. The exploitation of this potential tool for food and environmental analysis depends on the selection and characterization of suitable enzymes from different sources. One of the most active areas at the moment, and one represented at this conference, is the search for mediators and methods of modifying traditional electrode surfaces to enhance the kinetics of electrochemical reactions that provide a convenient method of detection. With the facilitation of electron transfer among substrate, enzymes, cofactors and an electrode surface, the sensitivity and selectivity of electrochemical biosensors can be dramatically improved. Finally, several contributions included in this issue highlight the fact that trace metal analysis can be performed in a practical and economic way by exploiting relatively simple chemical reactions whose rates are sensitive to the presence of these metals. With careful attention to calibration and the elucidation of kinetic mechanisms, these reactions can be used with spectrophotometric detection for environmental monitoring, especially with regard to surface and ground water.

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Giuseppe Palleschi has been the Head of the Department of Chemical Science and Technology of the University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’ since 1994. In 2000 he obtained the Laurea Honoris Causa from the University of Bucharest for his activity in the area of chemical sensors for food and environmental control. Prof. Palleschi’s research over the last 25 years has focused on the development of chemical sensors as well as bio- and immunosensors for use in the areas of biomedicine, food and environmental analysis. He is the author of more than 200 papers in international scientific journals and has served as coordinator of four EU research projects