Colorimetric Sensing of α-Amino Acids and Its Application for the Label-Free Detection of Protease

A new indirect approach to explore sensitive colorimetric sensors toward alpha-amino acids is proposed: the pink solution of 1 and copper ions changed to colorless immediately upon the addition of alpha-amino acids. As the hydrolysis of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with the aid of trypsin produces alpha-amino acids, the complex of 1/Cu2+/BSA could act as a label-free, sensitive, selective sensor toward trypsin. The detection process could be visually observed by naked eyes.