Microchimica Acta

, Volume 184, Issue 5, pp 1315–1324 | Cite as

On−off−on gold nanocluster-based near infrared fluorescent probe for recognition of Cu(II) and vitamin C

Original Paper
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Abstract

The authors described gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) for use on an “on − off − on” NIR fluorescent probe for the determination of citrate and Cu(II) ion. The AuNCs were prepared by a microwave-assisted method using BSA as both the stabilizing and reducing agent. The resulting BSA-capped AuNCs display NIR fluorescence peaking at 680 nm under 500 nm excitation, a quantum yield of ~6.0%, an average size of 2.8 ± 0.5 nm, water-dispersibility, stability and biocompatibility. The on−off probe for Cu(II) is based on the interaction between Cu(II) and BSA which causes the fluorescence of the BSA−AuNCs to be quenched. The quenched fluorescence is recovered on addition of vitamin C (VC), obviously due to complexation of Cu(II) by citrate. The probe was employed to image Cu(II) and citrate in HeLa cells and in aqueous solutions. The method works in the 20 nM to 0.1 mM concentration range for Cu(II), and in the 8 nM to 120 μM concentration range for VC.

Graphical abstract

Schematic presentation of the gold nanocluster based probe whose fluorescence is quenched by Cu(II) ions and then restored by addition of vitamin C. This is demonstrated for both aqueous solutions and living cells.

Keywords

Nanoprobe On-off-on probe Fluorescence Near-infrared Metal nanoclusters Imaging HeLa cells Microscopy Cells 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51503085), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (No. BK20140157), open project of state key laboratory of supramolecular structure and materials (sklssm201621), Provincial Institution Promotion Plan (2015024-3), Public Health Research Center at Jiangnan University (No.JUPH201506), 2015 postgraduate practice innovation project of ordinary college in Jiangsu (SJLX15_0552).

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors have no competing interests.

Supplementary material

604_2017_2111_MOESM1_ESM.doc (2 mb)
ESM 1 (DOC 2.03 mb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Wien 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.China-Australia Joint Research Centre for Functional Molecular Materials, School of Chemical & Material EngineeringJiangnan UniversityWuxiPeople’s Republic of China
  2. 2.Institute of New Energy TechnologyNingbo Institute of Industrial Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNingboPeople’s Republic of China
  3. 3.School of Chemical Science and EngineeringTongji UniversityShanghaiPeople’s Republic of China

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