A novel anionic polyfluorene derivative, poly(9,9-bis(6′-sulfate)hexyl) fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene sodium salt (P1) is synthesized. P1 exhibits exemplary activity towards the selective detection of Fe3+ and phosphates (Pi) under physiological conditions. On binding to Fe3+, exceptional fluorescence quenching of P1 occurred, demonstrated by a >97% reduction in the fluorescence intensity. Furthermore, the P1–Fe3+ assay is highly selective for inorganic phosphate (Pi) anions at biological pH values, observed by complete fluorescence dequenching and confirmed through a >95% fluorescence enhancement. In order to validate its diagnostic potential, this assay was employed to monitor the Pi levels in a competing biological environment like blood serum. At pH 7.4 this assay showed a high specific activity to detect Pi in the bioassay environment, observed by the unique enhancements in fluorescence intensities for varying and low Pi concentrations. Since this assay performed Pi detection at very low concentrations we utilized it successfully for the fluorometric estimation of Pi in blood serum with high accuracy and within short duration. This remarkable ability of P1 to accomplish in situ monitoring and estimation of indispensable biological targets like Fe3+ and Pi rapidly and in label-free conditions, corroborates the extension of this assay system for clinical application.
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