One-pot synthesis of an anionic cyclodextrin-stabilized bifunctional gold nanoparticles for visual chiral sensing and catalytic reduction

A facile one-pot synthetic method for preparing gold nanoparticles by employing sugammadex (SUG), a carboxylic acid functionalized γ -cyclodextrin derivative, as reducing-cum-stabilizing agent herein was reported for the first time. The SUG protected gold nanoparticles (SUG-AuNPs) can work as a colorimetric sensor for visual chiral recognition of α -amino acids enantiomers, especially for lysine (Lys) and asparagine (Asn) enantiomers. The chiral recognition assay was successfully applied to determining the enantiometric excess of L-Lys and L-Asn ranging from −100 % to 100 % respectively. Moreover, the prepared SUG-AuNPs was found to exhibit efficient catalytic activity towards the reduction of toxic 4-nitrophenol by NaBH 4 and the efficiency of the system was further demonstrated through the reduction of other typical nitroaromatics under mild condition. The as-synthesized SUG-AuNPs shows good performance for both chiral sensing and reduction activity and thus may facilitate the practical application in the area of both chiral discrimination and catalysis.