A highly sensitive gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric probe for pyrophosphate using a competition assay approach

Abstract

In this study, a mixture of [Zn(2)(1,3-bis[bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]benzene)](4+) ([Zn(2)(BBPAB)](4+)) and 11-mercaptoundecylphosphoric acid functionalized gold nanoparticles (Phos-AuNPs) is shown to be a highly sensitive colorimetric probe that can easily detect pyrophosphate (PPi) at less than 200 nM with the naked eye.