Sensitive fluorescence assay for the detection of glyphosate with NACCu2+ complex

An ion synergism fluorescence probe via Cu2+ triggered competition interaction to detect glyphosate

The widespread use of glyphosate (Gly) poses significant risks to environmental and human health, underscoring the urgent need for its sensitive and rapid detection. In this work, we innovated by developing a novel material, ionic liquids, which formed the ionic probe "[P66614]2[2,3-DHN]-Cu2+ (PDHN-Cu2+)" through coordination with Cu2+. This probe capitalized on the distinctive fluorescence quenching properties of ionic liquids in the presence of Cu2+, driven by synergistic interactions between anions and cations. Glyphosate disrupted the PDHN-Cu2+ coordination structure due to its stronger affinity for Cu2+, triggering a "turn-on" fluorescence response. Impressively, PDHN-Cu2+ enabled the sensitive detection of glyphosate within just one minute, achieving a detection limit as low as 71.4 nM and excellent recovery rates of 97-103% in diverse samples. This groundbreaking approach, utilizing ionic probes, lays a robust foundation for the accurate and real-time monitoring of pesticides, employing a strategy based on synergism and competitive coordination.

A fluorescence ionic probe utilizing Cu2+ assisted competition for detecting glyphosate abused in green tea

Food fraud caused by the violation of glyphosate use in tea is frequently exposed, posing a potential health risk to consumers and undermining trust in food safety. In the work, an ionic fluorescent probe "[P66614] [4HQCA]-Cu2+ (PHQCA-Cu2+)" was constructed using Cu2+ and ionic liquids coordination through a competitive coordination strategy to detect glyphosate. This probe exhibited a prominent "turn-on" fluorescence response in glyphosate detection. PHQCA-Cu2+was destroyed by glyphosate with its strong coordination capability, and a new complex re-formed simultaneously between glyphosate and the Cu2+ in it, where Cu2+ served as an "invisible indicator" influencing fluorescence changes. Remarkably, PHQCA-Cu2+formed rapidly within 5 s, demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and selectivity, and satisfactory detection performance on paper strips impregnated withPHQCA-Cu2+.Importantly,PHQCA-Cu2+showed excellent recoveries in various green tea, which offered a viable method for identifying contaminated products from the supply chain quickly to enhance overall food safety surveillance.

A novel fluorescence platform for specific detection of tetracycline antibiotics based on [MQDA-Eu3+] system

Tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) are extensively used in clinical medicine, animal husbandry, and aquaculture because of their cost-effectiveness and high antibacterial efficacy. However, the presence of TCs residues in the environment poses risks to humans. In this study, an inner filter effect (IFE) fluorescent probe, 2,2'-(ethane-1,2-diylbis((2-((2-methylquinolin-8-yl)amino)-2-oxoethyl)azanediyl))diacetic acid (MQDA), was developed for the rapid detection of Eu3+ within 30 s. And its complex [MQDA-Eu3+] was successfully used for the detection of TCs. Upon coordination of a carboxyl of MQDA with Eu3+ to form a [MQDA-Eu3+] complex, the carboxyl served as an antenna ligand for the effective detection of Eu3+ to intensify the emission intensity of MQDA via "antenna effect", the process was the energy absorbed by TCs via UV excitation was effectively transferred to Eu3+. Fluorescence quenching of the [MQDA-Eu3+] complex was caused by the IFE in multicolor fluorescence systems. The limits of detection of [MQDA-Eu3+] for oxytetracycline, chlorotetracycline hydrochloride, and tetracycline were 0.80, 0.93, and 1.7 μM in DMSO/HEPES (7:3, v/v, pH = 7.0), respectively. [MQDA-Eu3+] demonstrated sensitive detection of TCs in environmental and food samples with satisfactory recoveries and exhibited excellent imaging capabilities for TCs in living cells and zebrafish with low cytotoxicity. The proposed approach demonstrated considerable potential for the quantitative detection of TCs.

Three-dimensional polymer phenylethnylcopper/nitrogen doped graphene aerogel electrode coupled with Fe3O4 NPs nanozyme: Toward sensitive and robust photoelectrochemical detection of glyphosate in agricultural matrix

BACKGROUND

Presently, glyphosate (Gly) is the most extensively used herbicide globally, Nevertheless, its excessive usage has increased its accumulation in off-target locations, and aroused concerns for food and environmental safety. Commonly used detection methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography, have limitations due to expensive instruments, complex pre-processing steps, and inadequate sensitivity. Therefore, a facile, sensitive, and reliable Gly detection method should be developed.

RESULTS

A photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor consisting of a three-dimensional polymer phenylethnylcopper/nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel (PPhECu/3DNGA) electrode coupled with Fe3O4 NPs nanozyme was constructed for sensitive detection of Gly. The microscopic 3D network of electrodes offered fast transfer routes for photo-generated electrons and a large surface area for nanozyme loading, allowing high signal output and analytical sensitivity. Furthermore, the use of peroxidase-mimicking Fe3O4 NPs instead of natural enzyme improved the stability of the sensor against ambient temperature changes. Based on the inhibitory effect of Gly on the catalytic activity Fe3O4 NPs, the protocol achieved Gly detection in the range of 5 × 10-10 to 1 × 10-4 mol L-1. Additionally, feasibility of the detection was confirmed in real agricultural matrix including tea, maize seedlings, maize seeds and soil.

SIGNIFICANCE

This work achieved facile, sensitive and reliable analysis towards Gly, and it was expected to inspire the design and utilization of 3D architectures in monitoring agricultural chemicals in food and environmental matrix.

Highly-fluorescent extracts from Pterocarpus wood for Fe3+ ion detection

At present, excessive Fe3+ in daily water has become a threat to human health. Among the conventional detection methods for Fe3+, fluorescent probes have been applied on a large scale due to their simplicity and efficiency. However, the currently available fluorescent probes are difficult to synthesize, costly and environmentally unfriendly, limiting their applications. In this work, a fluorescent extract of Pterocarpus wood was successfully obtained, and the structure of some coumarin-based molecules in this extract was determined by 2D-NMR. Subsequently, the intensity of this fluorescence was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM), resulting in a high-intensity fluorescent probe. The probe was sensitive to the concentrations of Fe3+ and MnO4-, and could efficiently detects Fe3+ in the range of 2.7 μM-8.0 μM, with LOD and LOQ reaching 1.06 μM and 3.20 μM, respectively. Moreover, based on the strong complexation property of EDTA on Fe3+, this work designed the "switch-on" fluorescent probes. The experiment shows that both static and dynamic quenching exist in this system. The mechanism of complexation and oxidation of fluorescent molecules by the quencher is interpreted in the quenching reaction. In addition, the fluorescent probe has a high yield and low cost, it also performs well in actual water sample tests. This method is expected to be developed as a new way on Fe3+ detection.

Sensitive fluorescence detection of glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium pesticides by purine-hydrazone-Cu2+ complex

Organophosphorus pesticides play an important role as broad-spectrum inactivating herbicides in agriculture. Developing a method for rapid and efficient organophosphorus pesticides detection is still urgent due to the increasing concern on food safety. An organo-probe (ZDA), synthesized by purine hydrazone derivative and 2,2'-dipyridylamine derivative, was applied in sensitive recognition of Cu2+ with detection limit of 300 nM. Mechanism study via density functional theory (DFT) and job's plot experiment revealed that ZDA and Cu2+ ions form a 1:2 complex quenching the fluorescence emission. Moreover, this fluorescent complex ZDA-Cu2+ was applicable for detecting glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium following fluorescence enhancement mechanism, with detection limits of 11.26 nM and 11.5 nM, respectively. Meanwhile, ZDA-Cu2+ was effective and sensitive when it is used for pesticide detection, reaching the maximum value and stabilizing in 1 min. Finally, the ZDA-Cu2+ probe could also be tolerated in cell assay environment, implying potential bio-application.

Construction of a novel fluorescent probe for sensitive determination of glyphosate in food and imaging living cells

Glyphosate is a widely used broad-spectrum herbicide in agriculture and horticulture to control a variety of weeds and undesirable plants. However, the excessive use of glyphosate has raised a number of environmental and human health concerns. It is urgent to develop tools to detect glyphosate. Herein, a novel dual-signal probe CCU-Cu2+ was designed and synthesized on the basis of CCU. CCU exhibited excellent selectivity and great sensitivity for Cu2+ which were based on both fluorescence "turn-off" reaction and comparative color visualisation methods. Due to the strong chelating ability of glyphosate on Cu2+, the CCU-Cu2+ complex was applied to glyphosate detection in practical samples. The experimental results in vitro showed that the CCU-Cu2+ complex was highly selective and rapid, with a low detection limit (1.6 μM), and could be recognised by the naked eye in the detection of glyphosate. Based on the excellent properties of the CCU-Cu2+ complex, we also constructed a smartphone-assisted detection sensing system for glyphosate detection, which has the advantages of precision, sensitivity, and high interference immunity. Moreover, the CCU-Cu2+ complex was also successfully employed for exogenous glyphosate imaging in living cells. These characteristics demonstrated that CCU-Cu2+ holds significant potential for detection and imaging of glyphosate in bio-systems.

Synthesis and Application of 1,8-Naphthalimide Derivatives Fluorescent Probe for Sequential Recognition of Cu2+ and H2PO4. J Fluoresc 2024:10.1007/s10895-024-03692-y. [PMID: 38613712 DOI: 10.1007/s10895-024-03692-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

A naphthalimide Schiff base fluorescent probe (BSS) was designed and synthesized from 4-bromo-1,8-naphthalic anhydride, and its structure was characterized by 1HNMR, 13CNMR, FTIR, and MS. Fluorescence emission spectra showed that probe BSS could realize the "turn-off" detection of Cu2+ in acetonitrile solution, detection process with strong specificity and excellent anti-interference of other metal ions. In the fluorescence titration experiments, fluorescence intensity of BSS showed a good linear relationship with the Cu2+ concentration (0-10 µmol/L), and the detection limit was up to 7.0 × 10- 8 mol/L. Meanwhile, BSS and Cu2+ could form a 1:1 complex (BSS-Cu2+) during the reaction process. Under the same detection conditions, complex BSS-Cu2+ had specific fluorescence recovery properties for H2PO4- and the whole process was not only fast (6 s) but also free of interference from other anions, with a detection limit was as low as 5.7 × 10- 8 mol/L. In addition, complex BSS-Cu2+ could be successfully applied to the detection of H2PO4- in actual water samples, which with excellent application prospects.

An on-off-on fluorescent probe for the detection of glyphosate based on a Cu2+-assisted squaraine dye sensor

The herbicide glyphosate, N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, has been widely used in the past 40 years, and has had many adverse effects on human health. Here, we constructed a convenient "on-off-on" fluorescent platform for detection of glyphosate via Cu2+ modulated squaraine dye fluorescence quenching. The squaraine dye F-0 exhibited strong fluorescence, which could be quenched by the addition of Cu2+. However, the addition of glyphosate restored the fluorescence intensity of F-0 due to the formation of a Cu2+-glyphosate complex. F-0 was utilized as a fluorescent probe for the quantitative detection of glyphosate, with the lowest detection limit of 13.16 nmol L-1. Furthermore, this method demonstrated high selectivity and anti-interference capabilities. The successful monitoring of glyphosate in real samples was achieved using this detection strategy.

Detection of glyphosate residues in agricultural products using liquid-crystal-based sensor exploiting competitive binding of glyphosate and Cu2+ at the aqueous/LC interface and capillary tube test strip

Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide that poses both health and environmental risks. In this study, we propose a liquid crystal (LC)-based assay for glyphosate detection that exploits the unique properties of LC materials. The nematic LC 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) was employed as the sensing material and a self-assembled monolayer of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) was used to modify glass substrates. The assay involved strong competition for coordination with Cu2+ for glyphosate, resulting in changes in the LC texture. By monitoring and analyzing the optical images of the LC film using polarizing microscopy, we detected and quantified the glyphosate concentrations. The proposed assay demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity toward glyphosate in the detection range of 1-300 nM with a limit of detection of 0.26 nM. Moreover, the assay successfully applied to analyze glyphosate in spiked samples, including tap water, soil, and cabbage, and satisfactory recovery rates were achieved. Based on this detection principle, capillary tube test strips were developed for on-site applications. The detection thresholds of the test strips were controlled by varying the Cu2+ concentration. The developed LC-based assay is a rapid and reliable glyphosate detection method with potential applications in environmental monitoring and food safety.

Ratiometrically electrochemical and colorimetric dual-mode detection of glyphosate based on 2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) NSs

In this work, a dual-signal output sensor was developed for the ratiometrically electrochemical and colorimetric detection of glyphosate (GLYP) based on the duplex nature of 2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) nanosheets (2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) NSs). Cu active center sites in 2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) NSs could transform into CuCl for signal amplification in the presence of chloride ions (Cl-), which dropped dramatically upon GLPY addition due to the strong interaction between GLYP and cuprous ion triggering the competitive reaction with the conversion of CuCl into Cu-GLYP complex. Meanwhile, the constant current signals of Fe2+/3+ in the iron-porphyrin structure of Cu-TCPP(Fe) served as an inner reference, resulting in a ratiometrically electrochemical GLYP sensor. Moreover, 2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) NSs with intrinsic peroxidase-like activity was employed for the colorimetric determination of GLYP based on the specific inhibitory effect of GLYP on the peroxidase activity of 2D Cu-TCPP(Fe) nanozyme. GLYP concentrations can be quantified in the range from 1.0 × 10-10 M to 1.0 × 10-6 M and 1.0 × 10-9 M to 1.0 × 10-7 M, with detection limits of 3.9 × 10-12 M and 1.89 × 10-11 M for ratiometrically electrochemical method and colorimetric assay, respectively. Such a dual-mode sensor with remarkable selectivity, reproducibility, and stability was finally applied for GLYP detection in real samples and reliable outcomes were achieved.

Dissolution kinetics of copper oxide nanoparticles in presence of glyphosate

Recently CuO nanoparticles (n-CuO) have been proposed as an alternative method to deliver a Cu-based pesticide for controlling fungal infestations. With the concomitant use of glyphosate as an herbicide, the interactions between n-CuO and this strong ligand need to be assessed. We investigated the dissolution kinetics of n-CuO and bulk-CuO (b-CuO) particles in the presence of a commercial glyphosate product and compared it to oxalate, a natural ligand present in soil water. We performed experiments at concentration levels representative of the conditions under which n-CuO and glyphosate would be used (∼0.9 mg/L n-CuO and 50 μM of glyphosate). As tenorite (CuO) dissolution kinetics are known to be surface controlled, we determined that at pH 6.5, T ∼ 20 °C, using KNO3 as background electrolyte, the presence of glyphosate leads to a dissolution rate of 9.3 ± 0.7 ×10-3 h-1. In contrast, in absence of glyphosate, and under the same conditions, it is 2 orders of magnitude less: 8.9 ± 3.6 ×10-5 h-1. In a more complex multi-electrolyte aqueous solution the same effect is observed; glyphosate promotes the dissolution rates of n-CuO and b-CuO within the first 10 h of reaction by a factor of ∼2 to ∼15. In the simple KNO3 electrolyte, oxalate leads to dissolution rates of CuO about two times faster than glyphosate. However, the kinetic rates within the first 10 h of reaction are about the same for the two ligands when the reaction takes place in the multi-electrolyte solution as oxalate is mostly bound to Ca2+ and Mg2+.