Phenylboronic acid modified silver nanoparticles for colorimetric dynamic analysis of glucose

• The 5-amino-2-fluorophenylboronic acid modified silver nanoparticles (FPBA-AgNPs) were employed for colorimetric dynamic analysis of glucose.
• Highly modulating, sensitive, and selective sensing of glucose is realized via glucose-modulated assembly of the FPBA-AgNPs.
• Glucose-modulated assembly of the FPBA-AgNPs occurred by the bridged binding of a glucose molecule to two FPBA-AgNPs.
• The glucose level variations associated with a biological reaction were monitored by using the FPBA-AgNPs, without altering the reaction mechanism.

The development of advanced nanostructures that allow dynamic quantification of glucose level can contribute to tight glucose control in diabetes management and other medical/biological fields. In this paper, we demonstrated that the assemblies of the 5-amino-2-fluorophenylboronic acid modified silver nanoparticles (FPBA-AgNPs) can be employed for highly modulating, sensitive, and selective colorimetric sensing of glucose over a physiologically important concentration range of 0–20 mM at a physiological pH of 7.4. The glucose-modulated assembly of the FPBA-AgNPs occurred by the regulable formation of interparticle linkages via the bridged binding of 1,2-cis-diols and 5,6-cis-diols (for furanose form; or 4,6-cis-diols for pyranose form), respectively, of a glucose molecule to two FPBA-AgNPs. The detection limit was 89.0 μM. The mean error of glucose detection in a macro-bio-system, blood serum of adult, was smaller than 10%. Furthermore, we show that the glucose level variations associated with a model biological reaction process can be monitored by using the FPBA-AgNPs, whilst with the reaction mechanism remaining nearly unchanged.