Simple and selective determination of 6-thioguanine by using polyethylenimine (PEI) functionalized carbon dots

In this work, a new selective and simple fluorescence probe based on polyethylenimine(PEI) functionalized carbon dots (PEI-CDs) for fast determination of 6-thioguanine (6-TG) was developed. We successfully prepared the highly fluorescent PEI-CDs by hydrothermal method, and completed the synthesis and modification processes in one step. The fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of the as-synthesized CDs was 38% and higher than that of most previous reports (5-30%). The fluorescence intensity of PEI-CDs decreased obviously with gradually increased concentration of 6-TG. The interference substances caused a negligible effect on the fluorescence intensity of the (PEI-CDs)-6-TG reaction system with the interference ratios all below 2.8%. Under optimum conditions, a great linear relationship between fluorescence intensity function log(F₀/F) and concentration of 6-TG in a wide range from 4μM to 800μM with a detection limit (S/N = 3) of 1.33μM was obtained. And this proposed approach was successfully applied for the determination of 6-TG in human serum and urine samples. Furthermore, the PEI-CDs fluorescence probe has superior potential in practical application of detecting 6-TG due to its inexpensive precursors, simple operation, low toxicity and excellent biocompatibility.