Investigation on the peroxidase-mimic activity of adenine phosphate and its applications

•Adenine phosphate (AP) is first found exhibiting intrinsic peroxidase-like activity.•The hydroxyl radical (•OH) is the active specie of catalytic reaction of AP.•A sensitive colorimetric method for hydrogen peroxide and ascorbic acid detection is established.•The findings facilitate the development of new small-molecule enzyme mimics.