A highly selective colorimetric Cys sensor based on core-substituted naphthalene diimides

Abstract

This study presents the use of a core-substituted naphthalene diimide (NDI) probe for the selective sensing of cysteine (Cys). The UV-vis and colorimetric study showed that the NDI probe is highly selective towards Cys detection without any interference from other amino acids. We have also found that in the presence of Cys, the naked-eye color of receptor 1 changed from yellow to colourless. The sensing mechanism for Cys detection is based on the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) effect.