Building addressable libraries: Site selective coumarin synthesis and the "real-time" signaling of antibody-coumarin binding

The feasibility of using active semiconductor chips containing addressable arrays of microelectrodes for the "real-time" monitoring of biologically relevant binding events has been demonstrated by detecting the binding of a coumarin substrate by an anticoumarin antibody. The coumarin substrate was synthesized proximal to predetermined electrodes on the chip with the use of a Pd(II) reagent that was itself generated by using the selected electrodes. Once the coumarin was synthesized, its binding to the anticoumarin antibody was detected by monitoring the current associated with a ferrocene-ferrocinium ion redox cycle that was established between the electrodes on the chip and a remote auxiliary electrode.