Rapid, selective, and sensitive electrochemical detection of artesunate via 4-aminophenylboronic acid oxidation accelerated by ethanol.

BACKGROUND: Malaria, primarily caused by Plasmodium falciparum, remains a critical global health concern, with artesunate widely administered for its potent and rapid antimalarial activity. However, the growing threat of artesunate resistance necessitates the development of fast, accurate, and accessible detection methods. While conventional techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and fluorimetry provide high sensitivity, they often require sophisticated instrumentation and time-consuming procedures. In contrast, current electrochemical detection methods may suffer from high oxidation potentials or involve complex electrode fabrication.

RESULTS: This study presents a new, simple, and highly sensitive electrochemical strategy for the rapid detection of artesunate, achieving a response within 2 min. The method is based on the selective oxidation of 4-aminophenylboronic acid by artesunate in the presence of ethanol, where artesunate is converted into electroactive 4-aminophenol, generating a distinct signal at approximately 0.083 V. The presence of ethanol significantly accelerates the reaction rate and reduces analysis time from more than 1 h to 2 min because of a significant solvent effect. The system demonstrated a wide linear range (0.5-135 μM), a low detection limit of 0.12 μM, and excellent recovery in pharmaceutical formulations (98.70-103.59 %) SIGNIFICANCE: This rapid, cost-effective method holds strong potential for routine quality control and on-site artesunate detection in pharmaceutical and clinical settings. This study also provides a facile way to dramatically accelerate boronate deprotection reactions for various electrochemical applications.