Gold nanoclusters Cys-Au NCs as selective fluorescent probes for "on-off-on" detection of Fe and ascorbic acid.

Gold nanoclusters exhibit attractive properties owing to their excellent biocompatibility and strong photostability in the biomedical domain. In this research, cysteine-protected fluorescent gold nanoclusters (Cys-Au NCs) were synthesized decomposing Au(i)-thiolate complexes for the detection of Fe and ascorbic acid in a bidirectional "on-off-on" mode. Meanwhile, the detailed characterization confirmed that the mean particle size of the prepared fluorescent probe was 2.