Designing an electrochemical sensor based on ZnO nanoparticle-supported molecularly imprinted polymer for ultra-sensitive and selective detection of sorafenib

Background: Sorafenib (SOR) is a multikinase inhibitor anticancer drug that is used in treating non-small cell cancer. In this work, we focused on developing nanomaterial-supported smart porous interfaces by following molecular imprinting approach for the selective determination of SOR. Determination-based studies in literature for SOR are limited, and they are chromatographic techniques-based; hence, there is a need in literature to elaborate the selective and sensitive analysis/monitoring of SOR in both biological and pharmaceutical samples with more studies.Results: The results showed that adding ZnO NPs enhanced the signal five times compared to the solo molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). Under the optimized conditions, ZnO/AMPS@MIP-GCE showed a linear response in the concentration range between 1.0 x 10-12 and 1.0 x 10-11 M with LOD and LOQ values of 2.25 x 10-13 M and 7.51 x 10-13 M, respectively, in the serum sample. The selectivity study was conducted against common cations, anions, and compounds such as dopamine, paracetamol, ascorbic acid, and uric acid. Also, the imprinting factor (IF) analysis was performed on selected drug substances having structural similarities to SOR and the relative IF values of regorafenib, leflunomide, teriflunomide, nilotinib, axitinib, and dasatinib indicated the selectivity of the developed sensor for SOR. Finally, ZnO/AMPS@MIP-GCE was implemented to determine SOR in the spiked commercial human serum samples and tablet dosage form with bias% between-0.43 and + 0.66.Significance and novelty: This study is the first electrochemical study for the determination of SOR, and thanks to the ZnO NPs supported MIP sensor, it stands out in terms of both high sensitivity and superior selectivity. Also, this designed sensor provides controlled orientation of the template and complete removal of templates in a one-step process, allowing extremely low detection and quantification limits.