Electrochemically active agents for pH modulation in biological buffers

An apparatus comprising:

• an electrochemically active composition that includes:
• a quinone derivative, wherein a reactivity between a nucleophile and the quinone derivative is reduced compared to a reactivity between the nucleophile and an unsubstituted quinone from which the quinone derivative is derived;
• and
• an additive selected from the group consisting of:
• an aqueous buffer, an organic solvent, an electrolyte, a buffer salt, a bioreagent, a biomolecule, a surfactant, a preservative, a cryoprotectant, and a combination of two or more thereof;
• and
• at least one electrode, which the apparatus is configured to control to modulate a pH of at least a portion of the composition to predefined levels by the control of the at least one electrode electrochemically reacting the quinone derivative in a targeted manner to thereby produce H+ ions or OH− ions.

An apparatus comprising:

• an electrochemically active composition that includes a quinone derivative;
• and
• at least one electrode, wherein:
• a reactivity between (a) a nucleophile selected from the group consisting of:
• amines, thiols, amino acids, peptides, proteins, and a combination of two or more thereof, and (b) the quinone derivative is reduced compared to a reactivity between the nucleophile and an unsubstituted quinone from which the quinone derivative is derived;
• and
• the apparatus is configured to control the at least one electrode to modulate a pH of at least a portion of the composition to predefined levels by the manipulation of the at least one electrode electrochemically reacting the quinone derivative in a targeted manner to thereby produce H+ ions or OH− ions.

A method using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising (a) an electrochemically active composition that includes a quinone derivative and an additive selected from the group consisting of:

• an aqueous buffer, an organic solvent, an electrolyte, a buffer salt, a bioreagent, a biomolecule, a surfactant, a preservative, a cryoprotectant, and a combination of two or more thereof and (b) at least one electrode, which the apparatus is configured to control to modulate a pH of at least a portion of the composition to predefined levels by the control of the at least one electrode electrochemically reacting the quinone derivative in a targeted manner to thereby produce H+ ions or OH− ions, the method comprising:
• electrochemically reacting the quinone derivative using the one or more electrodes to produce an amount of H+ ions and/or an amount of OH− ions, wherein the pH of the solution close to the one or more electrodes is controlled by the amount of H+ ions and/or the amount of OH− ions produced;
• and
• collecting signals from the apparatus, wherein a reactivity between a nucleophile and the quinone derivative is reduced compared to a reactivity between the nucleophile and an unsubstituted quinone from which the quinone derivative is derived.