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An Auto‐Inductive Cascade for the Optical Sensing of Thiols in Aqueous Media: Application in the Detection of a VX Nerve Agent Mimic
Author(s) -
Sun Xiaolong,
Anslyn Eric V.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201704472
Subject(s) - conjugate , thiophosphate , thiol , nerve agent , chemistry , acceptor , aqueous medium , aqueous solution , combinatorial chemistry , cascade , chromatography , organic chemistry , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , acetylcholinesterase , enzyme , condensed matter physics
A new auto‐inductive protocol employs a Meldrum's‐acid‐based conjugate acceptor ( 1 ) as a latent source of thiol for signal amplification, as well as optical detection of thiols. The auto‐induction is initiated by a thiol‐disulfide exchange that leads to the generation of β‐mercaptoethanol, which in turn decouples the conjugate acceptor to release more thiols, resulting in a self‐propagating cycle that continues until all the conjugate acceptor is consumed. Using 1 in a two‐step integrated protocol yields a rapid, sensitive, and precise diagnostic assay for the ultratrace quantitation of a thiophosphate nerve agent surrogate.