A novel fluorescence probe for the detection of Al³⁺ was developed based on methionine protected gold nanoclusters (Met-AuNCs). A fluorescent Schiff base (an aldimine) is formed between the aldehyde group of salicylaldehyde (SA) and the amino groups of Met on the AuNCs, and developed for selective detection of Al³⁺ in aqueous solution. Al³⁺ can strongly bind with the Schiff base ligands, accompanied by the blue-shift and an obvious fluorescence emission enhancement at 455 nm. The limits of detection (LODs) of the probe are 2 pmol L⁻¹ for Al³⁺. Moreover, the probe can successfully be used in fluorescence imaging of Al³⁺ in living cells (SHSY5Y cells), suggesting that the simple fluorescent probe has great potential use in biological imaging.

基于甲硫氨酸保护的金纳米团簇（Met-AuNCs），开发了一种用于检测Al ^{3+的新型荧光探针。}在 AuNC 上水杨醛 (SA) 的醛基和 Met 的氨基之间形成荧光席夫碱（一种醛亚胺），用于水溶液中 Al ^{3+的选择性检测。}Al ³⁺能与席夫碱配体强结合，并伴有蓝移和455 nm处明显的荧光发射增强。对于 Al ³⁺，探针的检测限 (LOD) 为 2 pmol L ⁻¹。此外，该探针可成功用于Al ^{3+的荧光成像。}在活细胞（SHSY5Y 细胞）中，表明简单的荧光探针在生物成像中具有巨大的应用潜力。