Selective detection of homocysteine by using poly methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic silver clusters

We report selective detection of homocysteine (Hcy) through luminescent poly methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic acid (PMVEM) silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs), which were synthesized using PMVEM as scaffold. The as-developed PMVEM-Ag NCs have two emission peaks at 460 and 540 nm. After Hcy was added, the thiol moiety of Hcy can efficiently coordinate on Ag NCs, resulting in luminescence quenching of the 460 and 540 nm peaks. However, the ratio of these two emission peak was linearly correlated with the Hcy concentration from 5 to 100 μmol/L. The detection limits was 1 μmol/L. The detection of Hcy used the ratio of the two emission peaks, which permit selective detection of Hcy and quantitive determination of Hcy levels.