A simple and sensitive fluorescent assay for hemin detection based on artemisinin-thiamine

Hemin, the most common biological iron form, serves many biological functions. However, studies on hemin detection are scarce. As an unusual natural peroxide, artemisinin is quite stable in the presence of common species. While, it can decompose to generate superoxide radicals in the presence of hemin. And the as-obtained superoxide radicals can effectively oxidize thiamine to form fluorescent thiochrome. Inspired by this, a simple and novel fluorescent assay for hemin detection based on artemisin-thiamine is developed. Based on the linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity and concentration of hemin, the developed artemisinin-thiamine assay can be utilized for sensitive detection of hemin in the concentration range of 2.0–300.0 nM with a detection limit of 0.68 nM. Moreover, this assay shows high selectivity over other cations and biomolecules. Besides, hemin can be detected in serum samples with satisfactory results, which demonstrates its great potential for real sample analysis. The designed assay is free of any fluorescent nanomaterials or probes by just mixing these reagents together, and all the detection processes is performed within 20 min. Therefore, it can offer a simple, highly sensitive and selective sensing platform for fluorescence detection of hemin.