A signal-off fluorescent strategy for deferasirox effective detection using carbon dots as probe and Cu2+ as medium

The content of deferasirox (DEF) in plasma is significant in β-thalassemia patient that needs long-term transfusion therapy, while the effective and simple strategy for DEF monitoring is still limited. The carbon dots (CDs) prepared from citric acid monohydrate and glutathione exhibit weakly modulated fluorescence intensity to several common metal ions containing Cu2+. Interestingly, the process of interaction of Cu2+ and DEF forms the chelation of Cu2+ and DEF (Cu-DEF) with the absorbance wavelength of DEF at 320 nm shifting to 332 nm for Cu-DEF. And the obtained Cu-DEF will effectively quench CDs through inner filter effect (IFE). Accordingly, a facile signal-off fluorescent method based on CDs as probe is developed for DEF detection using Cu2+ as medium. And the proposed method exhibits linear range of 0.5–20 μg/mL with the detection limit of 0.33 μg/mL for DEF under the optimized conditions. Moreover, the developed assay is further expanded to test the content of DEF in dispersible tablet and plasma with accuracy and reproducibility. Such cost-effective and sensitive fluorescent assay just through simple mixing operation present a valuable strategy for drug monitoring.