A biomimetic cerium-based biosensor for the direct visual detection of phosphate under physiological conditions

An indicator displacement assay (IDA) was used to probe phosphate ions in acqueous medium at neutral pH using a dinuclear cerium based complex [Ce 2 (HXTA)]3+. The homoleptic complex can be used to detect phosphate ions in micromolar concentrations either spectrophotometrically or with the naked-eye. To our knowledge, this is the biomimetic detection system with the highest affinity known to date for selective, naked-eye based phosphate recognition under physiological conditions.