Efficient Assay for the Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide by Estimating Enzyme Promiscuous Activity in the Perhydrolysis Reaction

Hydrogen peroxide is an ideal oxidant in view of its availability, atom economy, or green aspects. Furthermore, it is produced by the cell mitochondria and plays a meaningful role in controlling physiological processes, but its unregulated production leads to the destruction of organs. Due to its diverse roles, a fast and selective method for hydrogen peroxide detection is the major limitation to preventing the negative effects caused by its excess. Therefore, we aimed to develop an efficient assay for the detection of H₂O₂. For this purpose, we combined the enzymatic method for the detection of hydrogen peroxide with the estimation of the promiscuity of various enzymes. We estimated the activity of an enzyme in the reaction of p-nitrophenyl esters with hydrogen peroxide resulting in the formation of peracid. To our knowledge, there is no example of a simple, multi-sensor demonstrating the promiscuous activity of an enzyme and detecting hydrogen peroxide in aqueous media.