A colorimetric and ratiometric photometric sequential assay for ascorbic acid and alkaline phosphatase in serum based on valence states modulation

[Display omitted] •A colorimetric and ratiometric photometric sequential assay for AA and ALP were constructed.•The assay could detect AA and ALP with high accuracy, sensitivity, and good selectivity.•The assay has been applied to measure ALP in real samples with satisfactory results. The photometric method is widely used in real clinical tests due to its simple operation, low cost and convenient. Many of the reported colorimetric ALP assays so far are non- ratiometric because the detection was based on changes in absorbance at a single wavelength. The development of novel colorimetric and ratiometric assay is of importance for quantitatively measuring target with high accuracy. The challenge in the design of ratiometric photometric assay is that the chromophore must have a significant spectral shift before and after binding to the target. Here, we report a colorimetric and ratiometric photometric sequential assay of AA and ALP based on the complexation between ARS and Cu2+ and redox reaction between AA and Cu2+. The absorption band of ARS centered at 425 nm (yellow color), which could be shifted to 510 nm (red color) upon Cu2+ binding. However, as far as we know, this classic color reaction has not been used to develop a ratiometric photometric method to sequentially detect AA and ALP, although photometric methods based on the regulation of other color reagents with oxidizing metal ions have been reported. The proposed sensing system shows a limit of detection for ALP at 0.24 U L−1 and could be applied for detecting ALP in newborn calf serum. The established sensing system makes a useful contribution to the detection of ALP in complex clinical samples.