A cross-reactive fluorescent ensemble based on perylene derivative/surfactant assemblies for discrimination of multiple aminoglycoside antibiotics in aqueous solution

Abstract

Sensitive detection and discrimination of multiple aminoglycosides (AGs) hold paramount importance in the efforts to curtail antibiotic overutilization and to monitor environmental impact. The present work provides a novel discriminative sensor ensemble based on a perylene derivative and SDS assemblies that can recognize nine different aminoglycosides. The fluorescent binary ensemble emits very weak fluorescence due to the strong aggregation of perylene-based probes in SDS pre-micelles. The addition of AGs can induce fast and remarkable fluorescence enhancement. The acquisition of fluorescence variation data at three characteristic emission wavelengths enables the generation of distinctive recognition pattern to each AG. Principal component analysis reveals that the sensor ensemble can correctly identify multiple AGs in both buffered aqueous solution and in 10% human urine. The fluorescence enhancement is attributed to the disaggregation of perylene units caused by the variation of SDS assembly from pre-micelle to micelles resulting from multi-point interaction with AGs. The strategy of modulation effect on fluorescence emission of encapsulated fluorophores by surfactant assemblies has been demonstrated to be highly effective for fabricating single system-based discriminative sensors for aminoglycosides.