A Photoluminescent Colorimetric Probe of Bovine Serum Albumin-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters for New Psychoactive Substances: Cathinone Drugs in Seized Street Samples

Abstract

Screening of illicit drugs for new psychoactive substances—namely cathinone—at crime scenes is in high demand. A dual-emission bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters probe was synthesized and used for quantitation and screening of 4-chloromethcathinone and cathinone analogues in an aqueous solution. The photoluminescent (PL) color of the bovine serum albumin-stabilized Au nanoclusters (BSA-Au NCs) probe solution changed from red to dark blue during the identification of cathinone drugs when excited using a portable ultraviolet light-emitting diodes lamp (365 nm). This probe solution allows the PL color-changing point and limit of detection down to 10.0 and 0.14 mM, respectively, for 4-chloromethcathinone. The phenomenon of PL color-changing of BSA-Au NCs was attributed to its PL band at 650 nm, quenching through an electron transfer mechanism. The probe solution was highly specific to cathinone drugs, over other popular illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine, ketamine, and methamphetamine. The practicality of this BSA-Au NCs probe was assessed by using it to screen illicit drugs seized by law enforcement officers. All 20 actual cases from street and smuggling samples were validated using this BSA-Au NCs probe solution and then confirmed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results reveal this BSA-Au NCs probe solution is practical for screening cathinone drugs at crime scenes.

Fluorescent carbon dots and noble metal nanoclusters for sensing applications: Minireview

“…To provide high-throughput advantages, C dot and/or MNC-functionalized microfluidic systems and arrays are required. Recently, we have shown that the use of C dots and MNCs in an array system allows screening of five [126] (b) Reproduced with permission. [44] Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. (c) Reproduced with permission.…”

“…C dots and MNCs have been used for the sensing of small organic molecules such as nitroaromatic compounds, [115][116][117][118][119] pesticides, [120][121][122][123][124] and abused drugs. [44,125,126] Herein, we provide some examples of their sensing applications in screening of abused drugs that have caused serious social problems all around the (a) Reproduced with permission. [95] Copyright 2020, Elsevier Ltd. (b) Reproduced with permission.…”

“…C dots and MNCs have been used for the sensing of small organic molecules such as nitroaromatic compounds, [ 115–119 ] pesticides, [ 120–124 ] and abused drugs. [ 44,125,126 ] Herein, we provide some examples of their sensing applications in screening of abused drugs that have caused serious social problems all around the world. A facile, low‐cost, and effective sensing approach using C dots prepared from arginine was proposed for the detection of 4‐chloroethcathinone.…”

Identification of synthetic cathinones in seized materials: A review of analytical strategies applied in forensic chemistry

“…The assay showed no reaction with other drugs such as amphetamine, MDMA, ketamine, cocaine, and others. This approach is practical and shows potential for implementation in‐loco (Yen et al, 2019).…”

“…Finally, other new approaches have also been developed and reported. An example is the development of a photoluminescent sensor using bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters probe (Yen et al, 2019). This sensor was developed toward 4-chloromethcathinone and in the presence of cathinones, the solution changed from red to dark blue, visible under UV light at 365 nm.…”