Cu2+-mediated fluorescence switching of gold nanoclusters for the selective detection of clioquinol

Jian Wang; Yong Chang; Pu Zhang; Shao Qing Lie; Peng Fei Gao; Cheng Zhi Huang

doi:10.1039/C5AN01975C

Cu²⁺-mediated fluorescence switching of gold nanoclusters for the selective detection of clioquinol†

Jian Wang,^a Yong Chang,^b Pu Zhang,^c Shao Qing Lie,^b Peng Fei Gao^a and Cheng Zhi Huang*^ab

* Corresponding authors

^a Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University) Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
E-mail: chengzhi@swu.edu.cn
Fax: (+86) 23 68367257
Tel: (+86) 23 68254659

^b Chongqing Key Laboratory of Biomedical Analysis (Southwest University), Chongqing Science & Technology Commission, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

^c College of Physical Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

Abstract

It is of great significance to sense clioquinol (CQ) in a simple and fast way because of its potential application in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In this contribution, we proposed a Cu²⁺-mediated fluorescence switchable strategy to detect CQ by taking bovine serum albumin (BSA) protected gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as probes. It was found that the strong red fluorescence of BSA-protected AuNCs at 610 nm could be effectively quenched by Cu²⁺ (off state) and reversibly recovered by CQ (on state) owing to the specific coordination of CQ and Cu²⁺. Under the optimal conditions, there was a good linear relationship between the off–on efficiency (E_off–on) and the amount of CQ in the range of 1–12 μM (R² = 0.9902), with a detection limit of 0.63 μM (3σ). The “turn off–on” mode and the fast and unique complexation of CQ and Cu²⁺ endow AuNCs with high specificity for CQ sensing. The proposed strategy is label-free, fast and selective, which is applicable to the analysis of CQ in cream with satisfactory results.

This article is part of the themed collection: Alzheimer's Research Month 2016

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5AN01975C
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 24 Sep 2015
Accepted: 30 Oct 2015
First published: 30 Oct 2015

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Analyst, 2015,140, 8194-8200

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Cu²⁺-mediated fluorescence switching of gold nanoclusters for the selective detection of clioquinol

J. Wang, Y. Chang, P. Zhang, S. Q. Lie, P. F. Gao and C. Z. Huang, Analyst, 2015, 140, 8194 DOI: 10.1039/C5AN01975C

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