Specific Hg2+-mediated perylene bisimide aggregation for highly sensitive detection of cysteine

Abstract

Hg(2+) was found to specifically induce the aggregation of perylene bisimide in a "thymine-Hg(2+)-thymine" binding motif and the resultant aggregates showed a highly selective and sensitive turn-on fluorescence response for cysteine, with a detection limit down to 9.6 nM.