This paper described a novel strategy for the construction of an electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensor based on gold nanoparticles@C 60 (AuNPs@C 60 ) hybrid for detecting phenolic compounds. First, C 60 was functionalized with l -cysteine. Subsequently, with C 60 as the core, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are synthesized and grown through an in situ reduction method in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA). The resulted flowerlike AuNPs@C 60 nanoparticles were modified onto the glassy carbon electrode to achieve the sensor (AuNPs@C 60 /GCE). Here, l -cysteine not only can improve the biocompatibility and hydrophilicity of C 60 but also can enhance the electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of peroxydisulfate system. Furthermore, both AuNPs and C 60 are also beneficial to the ECL of the peroxydisulfate system. Due to the combination of l -cysteine, AuNPs and C 60 , the proposed ECL sensor exhibited an excellent analytical performance. Under an optimum condition, the ECL intensity increased linearly with phenolic compounds. The linear ranges of 6.2×10 −8 –1.2×10 −4 M, 5.0×10 −8 –1.1×10 −4 M and 5.0×10 −8 –1.1×10 −4 M were obtained for catechol (CC), hydroquinone (HQ) and p-cresol (PC), respectively, and the detection limits were 2.1×10 −8 M, 1.5×10 −8 M and 1.7×10 −8 M, respectively. The AuNPs@C 60 hybrid might hold a new opportunity to develop an ECL sensor.