Terbium-macrocycle complexes as chemical sensors: detection of an aspirin metabolite in urine using a salicylurate-specific receptor site.

Salicylurate (SU) is the major metabolite in urine of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) and can be used as a metric to monitor aspirin pharmacokinetics and as an indicator of appendicitis, anemia, and liver disease. Detection in urine and plasma currently requires solvent extraction or other sample handling prior to analysis. We present a simple method to quantify SU in urine via chelation to a terbium binary complex with the macrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,7-bisacetate (DO2A). Binding of SU to form the [Tb(DO2A)(SU)](-) ternary complex triggers intense luminescence under UV excitation due to an absorbance-energy transfer-emission mechanism. Here we report characterization of the [Tb(DO2A)(SU)](-) ternary complex and application of this sensitized lanthanide luminescence method to quantify SU in urine samples following a low-dose aspirin regimen.