Highly selective fluorescence turn-on sensing of gold ions by a nanoparticle generation/C-I bond cleavage sequence

We have developed a quickly responsive, and specific fluorescent assay for the detection of Au(III) on the basis of the formation of gold nanoparticles in the presence of HEPES, which cleave the C-I bond of I-BODIPY 1 to yield the highly fluorescent H-BODIPY 2.