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A novel Cu(II)-assisted peptide fluorescent probe for highly sensitive detection of glyphosate in real samples: real application in test strips and smartphone

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Abstract

Glyphosate (Glyp) is an organophosphorus herbicide, and its abuse causes potential harm to the environment and human health. Thus, the development of simple and portable methods for rapid and visual detection of glyphosate is of great importance. Herein, we successfully developed a new fluorescent probe L with dansyl fluorophore as a fluorescent dye and tetrapeptide (Ala-Ser-Arg-His-NH2) as a recognition group. According to the design, L exhibited a specific fluorescence quenching response to Cu2+ and formed an L-Cu2+ ensemble with a molecular ratio of 2:1, demonstrating a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 12.04 nM. Interestingly, the L-Cu2+ ensemble as a relay response probe exhibited a specific fluorescence “off–on” response to glyphosate without interference from other pesticides and anions based on the strong complexation of glyphosate and Cu2+. The LOD of the L-Cu2+ ensemble for glyphosate was calculated as 12.59 nM. Additionally, the results of three recovery experiments with real samples showed that L has good practicability and accuracy in detecting glyphosate. Test strips were also fabricated to achieve facile detection of glyphosate to demonstrate the practical application potential of the L-Cu2+ ensemble. The L-Cu2+ ensemble was integrated with a smartphone for semi-quantification of glyphosate in a field environment under a 365 nm UV lamp.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 22206154), the Application Foundation Project of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (NO. 2021YJ0409).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Shida Road 1#, Nanchong, 637009, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Wei, Lin Xiao, Peilian Hou, Qifan Wang & Peng Wang

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  1. Ping Wei
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Correspondence to Peng Wang.

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Wei, P., Xiao, L., Hou, P. et al. A novel Cu(II)-assisted peptide fluorescent probe for highly sensitive detection of glyphosate in real samples: real application in test strips and smartphone. Anal Bioanal Chem 415, 5985–5996 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-023-04869-3

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