A simple'molecular beacon'-based fluorescent sensing strategy for sensitive and selective detection of mercury (Ⅱ)

摘要

A novel fluorescent sensor for the detection of Hg~2+ in aqueous media was developed. The method takes advantages of the highly selective thymine-Hg~2+-thymine coordination and the sensitive "signal-on" structure-switching molecular beacon.Since Ono et al. found that Hg~(2+) can specifically interact with thymine bases to form thymine-thymine (T-T) base pairs (T-Hg~(2+)-T), various optical sensors have been reported, such as colorimetric, fluorescent, and luminescent ones.