A FRET approach for luminescence sensing Cr3+ in aqueous solution and living cells through functionalizing glutathione and glucose moieties

A simple FRET-based approach to ratiometric fluorescence sensing of Cr3+ in aqueous solution using glutathione and glucose as building blocks was achieved, inspired to the binding motifs of Cr3+ in glucose tolerance factors (GTF). Selectivity and competition experiments showed that this system featured high sensitivity (detection limit ≤0.1 ppm) and excellent selectivity over other metal ions in buffer solution. Confocal fluorescence microscopy experiments had established the utility of the approach in monitoring Cr3+ within living cells.