The invention provides a preparation method for an orange red fluorescent copper nanocluster based on L-methionine. The preparation method comprises the following steps that by taking L-methionine asa protective agent and copper salt as a metal precursor, hydrogen peroxide is added to serve as an activating agent, hydrazine hydrate serves as a reducing agent, an orange red fluorescent copper nanocluster (Cu NCs) with good stability is prepared, the maximum excitation wavelength is 337 nm, the maximum emission wavelength is 592 nm, the stokes shift is up to 255 nm, and the structure is denotedas Cu NCs / Met. The synthetic method is novel, economical and easy to implement. According to the fluorescence quenching phenomenon, the Cu NCs / Met can be used as a fluorescent nanometer probe and isapplied to high-sensitivity and high-selectivity detection of norfloxacin medicines, and the detection process is simple and rapid. The fluorescent nanocluster prepared by the method has huge application prospects in the fields of sensing, catalysis, photoelectric devices, anti-counterfeiting, cell imaging, drug delivery and the like.