Carbon dot cluster as an efficient “off-on” fluorescent probe to detect Au(III) and glutathione

In this paper, we reported for the first time that Au(III) decorated carbon dot cluster (Au(III)/CDC) was synthesized to detect glutathione through fluorescence “off-on” approach. The “off” process was realized by the introduction of Au(III) on luminescent carbon dots (CDs), which formed the complex of Au(III)/CDC and quenched the fluorescence of CDs efficiently. This “off” process was used to detect Au(III) with the selectivity among 21 metal ions and the limitation was 0.48 μM (S/N=3). Au(III) could be removed from the complex by biothiol in the solution, which restored the fluorescence of CDC to achieve the “on” process. This process was selective for biothiols (especially for glutathione) among saccharides, dopamine and amino acids and the limit of detection was 2.02 μM (S/N=3). Due to the dependence of the fluorescence restoration on the concentration of glutathione, Au(III)/CDC was applied as the fluorescence sensor for detection of glutathione in the solution and cellular cytosol. By referring to the fluorescence change in the solution, the intracellular glutathione with/without oxygen stress was evaluated. As compared with the commercial assay, our Au(III)/CDC based assay was simple, facile and low cost, which would be useful to measure intracellular glutathione at different cellular states.