Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of luminescent gold nanoclusters for sensing Hg²⁺ in living cells using fluorescence imaging

A microwave-assisted strategy for synthesizing dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) capped fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) has been developed. Irradiation with microwaves during synthesis enhanced the fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of AuNCs by about five-fold and shortened the reaction time from hours to several minutes. The as-synthesized DHLA-AuNCs possessed bright near-infrared fluorescence (QY: 2.9%), ultrasmall hydrodynamic diameter (3.3 nm), good colloidal stability over the physiologically relevant pH range of 5-10 as well as low cytotoxicity toward HeLa cells. Moreover, these DHLA-AuNCs were capable of sensing Hg²⁺ through the specific interaction between Hg ²⁺ and Au⁺ on the surface of AuNCs; the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 nM. A potential application in imaging intracellular Hg ²⁺ in HeLa cells was demonstrated by using spinning disc confocal microscopy.