A highly sensitive octopus-like azobenzene fluorescent probe for determination of abamectin B1 in apples

• Main Authors: Zhenlong Guo, YiFei Su, Kexin Li, MengYi Tang, Qiang Li, Shandong Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021-02-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84221-w

Abstract The development of detecting residual level of abamectin B1 in apples is of great importance to public health. Herein, we synthesized a octopus-like azobenzene fluorescent probe 1,3,5-tris (5′-[(E)-(p-phenoxyazo) diazenyl)] benzene-1,3-dicarboxylic acid) benzene (TPB) for preliminary detection of abamectin B1 in apples. The TPB molecule has been characterized by ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrometry, 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance, fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) and fluorescent spectra. A proper determination condition was optimized, with limit of detection and limit of quantification of 1.3 µg L−1 and 4.4 μg L−1, respectively. The mechanism of this probe to identify abamectin B1 was illustrated in terms of undergoing aromatic nucleophilic substitution, by comparing fluorescence changes, FT-IR and ESI-MS. Furthermore, a facile quantitative detection of the residual abamectin B1 in apples was achieved. Good reproducibility was present based on relative standard deviation of 2.2%. Six carboxyl recognition sites, three azo groups and unique fluorescence signal towards abamectin B1 of this fluorescent probe demonstrated reasonable sensitivity, specificity and selectivity. The results indicate that the octopus-like azobenzene fluorescent probe can be expected to be reliable for evaluating abamectin B1 in agricultural foods.