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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

High-resolution Thermal Micro-imaging Using Europium Chelate Luminescent Coatings
Published on: April 16, 2017
Selective signalling of glyphosate in water using europium luminescence
Laura B Jennings1, Sergey Shuvaev, Mark A Fox
1Department of Chemistry, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. david.parker@dur.ac.uk.
Abstract:
A series of four emissive europium complexes has been evaluated for the binding of glyphosate in various aqueous media, including river water and grain extracts. Binding selectivity toward inorganic phosphate and bicarbonate was enhanced by measuring samples at pH 5.9, above the pKa of glyphosate itself. The highest affinity was shown with [Eu·L1], which creates an exocyclic tripicolylamine moiety when one pyridine group dissociates from Eu. Glyphosate was bound selectively over dihydrogenphosphate, glycinate, aminomethylphosphonate and the related herbicide glufosinate. The complex was used to measure glyphosate over the range 5 to 50 μM, in river water and grain extracts.
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