Negatively charged gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and a polyelectrolyte (PE) have been assembled alternately on a polystyrene (PS) colloid by a layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique to form three-dimensional (Au/PAH)(4)/(PSS/PAH)(4) multilayer-coated PS spheres (Au/PE/PS multilayer spheres). The Au/PE/PS multilayer spheres have been used to modify a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode. Cyclic voltammetry is utilized to investigate the properties of the modified electrode in a 1.0 M KCl solution that contains 5.0 x 10(-3) M K3Fe(CN)(6), and the result shows a dramatically decreased redox activity compared with the bare BDD electrode. The electrochemical behaviors of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) on the bare and modified BDD electrode are studied. The cyclic voltammetric studies indicate that the negatively charged, three-dimensional Au/PE/PS multilayer sphere-modified electrodes show high electrocatalytic activity and promote the oxidation of DA, whereas they inhibit the electrochemical reaction of AA, and can effectively be used to determine DA in the presence of AA with good selectivity. The detection limit of DA is 0.8 x 10(-6) M in a linear range from 5 X 10-6 to 100 X 10-6 M in the presence of 1 x 10(-3) AA.