Study of the binding and energy transfer of erbium ion with rhaponticin and its pharmacokinetics application

Binding and energy transfer of an erbium ion with rhaponticin (RH) was investigated and a simple spectrofluorimetric method was developed for determination of RH using an Er³⁺ probe. Results using spectra, chromatography and density functional theory (DFT) indicated that binding of Er³⁺ to RH occurred at the hydroxyl group of C‐11 and at the methoxy group at C‐12 of the conjugated aromatic ring through hydrogen bonding. Resonance energy transfer (RET) occurred from intramolecular charge transfers (ICT), the binding of RH to Er³⁺ ion induced fluorescence enhancement (FE) of the Er³⁺ ion. This method was applied to the pharmacokinetic detection of RH. The main advantages of the proposed method compared with previously reported ones are its simplicity and lower cost. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.