Water-Soluble Perylene Diimide for Highly Sensitive and Repeatable Metal Ion Detection with Novel Logic Gate Operation

In this paper, we report a synthesised water soluble perylene derivative, N,N′-di(2-aspartic acid)-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PASP), for highly sensitive and repeatable detection of copper (Cu2+) and aluminium ions (Al3+) and novel logic gate operation. In the presence of metal ions, a dramatic decrease in PASP optical intensity was induced based on the strong interaction between terminal carboxy groups and the metal ions. Detection limits of 0.22 and 0.24 μM were respectively obtained at physiological pH. The signals could be recovered upon the addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and P2O74−, which competed for Cu2+ and Al3+ in the PASP-CuII and PASP-AlIII systems and induced their dissociation as secondary sensors for anions. At least four detection cycles were performed with a high recovery efficiency. Based on these phenomena, a novel three-level logic gate (OR-IMP-OR) was performed for smart signal readout with metal ions (Cu2+ and Al3+) and anions (EDTA and P2O74−) as input signals, and the relative change of optical intensity of PASP as output signal. Furthermore, the prepared PASP molecule also responded sensitively to Cu2+ and Al3+ in 10 % diluted serum medium.