The electropolymerization of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was carried out when GCE was cycled in 0.1 M sulfuric acid containing CTAB from -0.8 V to 12 V for several cycles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study confirmed the formation of nanoporous poly(CTAB) thin film on GCE, which is highly uniform and adhesive. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) shows that poly(CTAB)/GCE exhibited great catalytic capability for the oxidation of dopamine (DA), uric acid (UA), tryptophan (Trp) and theophylline (TP) by enhancing their oxidation currents. In pH 7.0 0.1 M PB solution containing DA, UA, Trp and TP, the linear calibration plots for DA, UA, Trp and TP were obtained over the range of 0.5-1000 mu M, 1-1000 mu M, 1-1000 and 0.5-1000 mu M with detection limits of 0.11 mu M, 033 mu M, 0.44 M and 0.11 mu M, respectively. Satisfactory results were obtained when poly(CTAB)/GCE was applied to the simultaneous determination of DA, UA, Trp and TP in urine samples. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.