Date of Award

12-30-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Wei Zhao

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a useful tool to examine biological molecules for noninvasive measurements. This research has focused on the determination of concentrations of four important biomolecules, glucose, gluconic acid, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and dopamine by FTIR. It is crucial to determine blood glucose levels for diabetes diagnosis. H2O2 is an important biomolecule having implications in aging and aging related diseases. Gluconic acid is important in food and pharmaceutical industries, and dopamine plays a key role in brain activity. In this work, first, glucose, gluconic acid, and H2O2 in aqueous solutions have been studied by using FTIR. Standard curves have been established for these molecules. The detection limit has been determined to be 2.1 mM for glucose, 1.2 mM for gluconic acid, and 1.8 mM for H2O2, respectively. The detection limit of glucose is lower than the normal blood glucose level of 3&minus,8 mM in human. Second, the consumption of glucose and the production of gluconic acid and H2O2 in the enzymatic reaction of glucose catalyzed by glucose oxidase have been measured simultaneously by FTIR. Third, the oxidation of dopamine by H2O2 has been monitored by FTIR. This work has provided the first hand information for developing IR spectroscopy&minus,based, noninvasive optical tools for important biomolecule determination.

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