Colorimetric recognition of aromatic amino acid enantiomers by gluconic acid-capped gold nanoparticles

In this work, we prepared gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by employing gluconic acid (GlcA) as reducing-cum-stabilizing agent. The proposed GlcA-AuNPs successfully worked as a colorimetric sensor for visual chiral recognition of aromatic amino acid enantiomers, namely tyrosine (d/l-Tyr), phenylalanine (d/l-Phe), and tryptophan (d/l-Trp). After adding L-types to GlcA-AuNPs solution, the color of the mixture changed from red to purple (or gray), while no obvious color change occurred on the addition of D-types. The effect can be detected by naked eyes. The particles have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential, the dynamic light scattering analysis as well as UV–Vis spectroscopy. This assay can be used to determine the enantiomeric excess of l-Trp in the range from 0 to + 100%. The method has advantages in simplicity, sensitivity, fast response, and low cost.