A water-soluble and retrievable ruthenium-based probe for colorimetric recognition of Hg(II) and Cys

Yali Cui; Yuanqiang Hao; Yintang Zhang; Baoxia Liu; Xu Zhu; Peng Qu; Deliang Li; Maotian Xu

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2016.04.011

A water-soluble and retrievable ruthenium-based probe for colorimetric recognition of Hg(II) and Cys

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2016 Aug 5:165:150-154. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2016.04.011. Epub 2016 Apr 13.

Authors

Yali Cui¹, Yuanqiang Hao², Yintang Zhang³, Baoxia Liu³, Xu Zhu³, Peng Qu³, Deliang Li⁴, Maotian Xu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental and Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, China.
² Henan Key Laboratory of Biomolecular Recognition and Sensing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu 476000, Henan, China. Electronic address: hao0736@163.com.
³ Henan Key Laboratory of Biomolecular Recognition and Sensing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu 476000, Henan, China.
⁴ Institute of Environmental and Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, China. Electronic address: lideliang@henu.edu.cn.
⁵ Henan Key Laboratory of Biomolecular Recognition and Sensing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu 476000, Henan, China. Electronic address: xumaotian@sqnc.edu.cn.

PMID: 27131874
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2016.04.011

Abstract

A new ruthenium-based complex 1 [(bis(4,4'-dimethylphosphonic-2,2'-bipyridine) dithiocyanato ruthenium (II))] was developed as a colorimetric probe for the detection of Hg(II) and Cys (Cysteine). The obtained compound 1 can give interconversional color changes upon the alternating addition of Hg(II) and Cys in 100% aqueous solution. The specific coordination between NCS groups with Hg(II) can lead to the formation of 1-Hg(2+) complex, which can induce a remarkable spectral changes of probe 1. Afterwards the formed 1-Hg(2+) complex can act as effective colorimetric sensor for Cys. Owing to the stronger binding affinity of sulfhydryl group to Hg(2+), Cys can extract Hg(2+) from 1-Hg(2+) complex resulting in the release of 1 and the revival of absorption profile of the probe 1. By introducing the hydrophilic phosphonic acid groups, the proposed probe exhibited excellent water solubility. The limits of detection (LODs) of the assay for Hg(2+) and Cys are calculated to be 15nM and 200nM, respectively.

Keywords: Colorimetric probe; Cysteine; Mercury; Phosphonic group; Ruthenium.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't