Development of a one-shot optical citrate sensor based on a guanidinium synthetic receptor

A new optical absorption-based one-shot sensor for the determination of citrate is described. The citrate-sensitive element is a plasticized polymeric membrane containing a synthetic guanidinium receptor and a pH-sensitive lipophilic dye. The rigid amide-based receptor with C-3 symmetry controls the anion selectivity pattern of the optical element. The optical selectivity coefficients obtained for citrate over a variety of common carboxylate anions meet the requirements for the determination of citrate in different types of samples. The one-shot sensor responds rapidly - in 40 s - and reversibly to citrate over a dynamic range of 0.779 to 25.0 mM with a sensor-to-sensor reproducibility of 5.7%, as log a(cit), in the medium level of the range. The performance of the optical one-shot sensor has been tested in the analysis of citrate in soft drinks and pharmaceuticals, validating the results against a reference procedure. The proposed method is quick, inexpensive, selective and sensitive, and uses conventional instrumentation only.