The rapid SERS detection of succinylcholine chloride in human plasma is based on the high affinity between quaternary ammonium salt structures.

[Display omitted] • SERS detection of SCC by intermolecular high-affinity. • CTAB has high molecular affinity with the quaternary ammonium salt structure of SCC. • Au NRs substrates with uniform hot spots were prepared by self-assembly method. • Realize the rapid and sensitive detection of SCC at the level of 2 × 10-8 M in plasma. Succinylcholine chloride (SCC) is a common poison that threatens human life. At present, there is a lack of research on its on-site rapid detection methods. In this work, the use of gold nanorods as an enhanced substrate based on the high affinity between the quaternary ammonium salt structure can achieve rapid SERS detection of SCC in plasma. The long alkane chain structure of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the quaternary ammonium salt structure of SCC have a high molecular affinity, so that the target molecule can show a strong and obvious characteristic signal of SERS. Combined with a simple pretreatment method, acetonitrile is used as a protein precipitation agent to effectively remove matrix interference. The constructed SERS substrate can achieve the sensitive detection of 2 × 10-8 M level of SCC in plasma samples and has high detection reproducibility. The entire pre-processing and testing process can be completed within 7 min, which can be used as an important technical basis for the preliminary identification of on-site SCC-related drug cases. The research results provide an effective solution for the establishment of SCC analysis strategies in complex matrices, and can provide new ideas for solving the problems of difficult identification of common poisons in the field and the lack of rapid detection methods on site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]