Sensing of insulin fibrillation using alkoxy-bridged binuclear rhenium(I) complexes

For the first time we report the simple, cost-effective, sensitive detection of human insulin fibrils using an alkoxy-bridged binuclear rhenium(I) complexes by the enhancement in luminescence intensity, emission lifetime and the formation of fibrils. The Re(I) complexes are weakly emissive, when it is dissolved with native insulin in an incubation buffer, but it becomes highly luminescent after the formation of insulin fibrils. This binding of human insulin fibrils is attributed to the hydrophobic as well as π−π stacking interaction of naphthalene moiety present in rhenium(I) complexes.