A multiemissive lanthanide metal-organic framework for selective detection of L-tryptophan

Amino acids are one of the essential components of the human body. Lack of amino acids can lead to poor concentration, fat gain, memory loss and so on. Herein, a novel lanthanide metal-organic framework (Sm-MOF) was prepared for self-calibrated luminescent recognition of amino acids. Each amino acid is significantly correlated to a unique combination of the two emission intensity ratios of the characteristic peaks of the ligand to Sm3+ ion, making two-dimensional fingerprint recognition possible. It is worth mentioning that the new self-calibrated sensor can detect L-tryptophan (Trp) with excellent sensitivity and selectivity, rapid response (< 32 s) and low detection limit (1.32 mu M). The luminescence mechanism mainly derived from the energy transfer between Trp and ligand, Sm3+ ions. Furthermore, satisfactory recoveries of 95-107% were obtained in plasma, suggesting the potential application of Sm-MOF in the detection of Trp in plasma.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel self-calibrated luminescent sensor was developed for the detection of L-tryptophan (Trp) in plasma. The sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity, selectivity, rapid response time, and low detection limit. The mechanism of luminescence was mainly attributed to the energy transfer between Trp and the ligand, Sm3+ ions. Satisfactory recovery rates were obtained in plasma, indicating the potential application of the sensor for Trp detection.