Abstract
Steroids are organic compounds derived from saturated cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene ring. This study is devoted to investigation of electrochemical behavior of sterols in dependence on various positioning and number of double bonds inside the steroid core using cyclic voltammetry in the media of an indifferent electrolyte or dehydrating inorganic acid in acetonitrile using carbon-based electrodes including the boron-doped diamond electrode.
Steroids possessing one double bond in the steroid core (e.g., cholesterol) are oxidized at more positive potentials than steroids with conjugated double bonds (e.g., 7-dehydrocholesterol). Sufficient difference in oxidation potential provides base for the development of voltammetric methods for their detection.