Wang Yanwei, Zhou Xiaojuan, Xu Chunli, Jin Yan, Li Baoxin
Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science of Shaanxi Province, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P. R. China.
Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 28;8(1):5296. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23674-y.
Chirality plays a key role in modern science and technology. Here, we report a simple and effective sensing platform for visual chiral recognition of enantiomers. In this sensing platform, gold nanorods (AuNRs) prepared through a common synthesis route are used as colorimetric probes for visual recognition of glutamine (Gln) enantiomers. D-Gln could rapidly induce the aggregation of AuNRs, thereby resulting in appreciable blue-to-gray color change of AuNRs solution; however, L-Gln could not induce color change of AuNRs. This distinct color change can be easily distinguished by the naked eyes; as a result, a visual method of chiral recognition was suggested. The method was applied to determine the enantiometric excess of D-Gln through the whole range of -100% ~ 100%. The chiral assay can be performed with a simple UV-vis spectrometer or the naked eyes. Notably, the AuNRs do not need any chiral labeling or modification, and the chiral recognition is based on the inherent chirality of AuNRs. This chiral assay method is simple, sensitive, cheap and easy to operate. This study is the first example using AuNRs for direct visual recognition of enantiomers, and will open new opportunity to construct more chiral recognition methods for some important compounds.
手性在现代科学技术中起着关键作用。在此，我们报道了一种用于对映体视觉手性识别的简单有效的传感平台。在该传感平台中，通过常规合成路线制备的金纳米棒（AuNRs）用作比色探针，用于视觉识别谷氨酰胺（Gln）对映体。D - Gln可迅速诱导AuNRs聚集，从而导致AuNRs溶液出现明显的从蓝色到灰色的颜色变化；然而，L - Gln不会诱导AuNRs发生颜色变化。这种明显的颜色变化可用肉眼轻松区分；因此，提出了一种手性识别的视觉方法。该方法被用于测定D - Gln在 - 100%至100%整个范围内的对映体过量。手性分析可以用简单的紫外可见光谱仪或肉眼进行。值得注意的是，AuNRs不需要任何手性标记或修饰，并且手性识别基于AuNRs的固有手性。这种手性分析方法简单、灵敏、廉价且易于操作。本研究是使用AuNRs直接视觉识别对映体的首个实例，并将为构建针对某些重要化合物的更多手性识别方法开辟新机遇。
