Ovalbumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters with ascorbic acid as reducing agent for detection of serum copper

Ovalbumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters(OVA@AuNCs) were prepared with ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. This strategy could realize the synthesis of water-soluble OVA@AuNCs within 20 min. The asprepared fluorescent probe showed a red fluorescence emission at 630 nm. Moreover, the properties of the OVA@AuNCs were characterized by transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering,ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescent spectroscopy. Based on the surface electron density decrease-induced fluorescence quenching mechanism, the OVA@AuNCs provided high sensitivity and selectivity for sensing copper ions. A good linear relationship was obtained between the fluorescence intensity of OVA@AuNCs and the concentration of copper ions in the range of 5.0-100.0 μmol/L(R~2=0.999) with a detection limit of 640 nmol/L Furthermore, the rat serum copper contents were determined by using the OVA@AuNCs based assay, indicating great potential of fluorescent probes for application in biological and clinical analysis.     

A sensitive tetraphenylethene-based fluorescent probe for Zn2+ ion involving ESIPT and CHEF processes

A new tetraphenylethene-based fluorescent probe 2-(quinolin-8-yliminomethyl)-4-triphenylvinyl-phenol (HL) for detecting Zn²⁺ ion through the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and chelation enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) processes has been designed and synthesized. The results show that HL emits relatively strong blue fluorescence at 460 nm without Zn²⁺ ion, however, probe HL displays highly pink fluorescent emission at 600 nm when adding Zn²⁺ ion. The fluorescent emission of HL appears an extremely large Stokes shift, which effectively reduces the interference of background signal. The limit of detection of HL for Zn²⁺ ion can reach to 9.0 × 10^–8 M.     

Highly sensitive fluorescent sensor targeting CuCl2 based on thiophene attached anthracene compound (TA)

A novel thiophene attached anthracene (TA) based fluorescent compound was designed and synthesized. The TA showed a high quantum yield (Qy = 0.34) in regard to fluorescence. We applied this TA compound to detect specific metal compound and found that it could identify CuCl₂ from other metals through dramatic fluorescence change at λ_max = 460 nm. It showed strong quenching fluorescence property with CuCl₂ while with other metal compounds it exhibited strong blue fluorescence emission. UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy clearly demonstrated that the quenching property of TA at λ_max = 460 nm was due to overlapping of the fluorescence peak of TA at λ_max = 460 nm and the absorption band of CuCl₂ (from 190 nm to 525 nm). Binding constant (K′), which was 0.0895 mM^?2, indicated a complexation ratio between TA and CuCl₂ as 1:2 and this interaction induced quenching property.     

A simple and highly selective fluorescent sensor for palladium based on benzofuran-2-boronic acid

Benzofuran-2-boronic acid could be used as a fluorescent sensor for the detection of Pd²⁺ because it was rapidly converted to highly fluorescent derivative after mixing with Pd²⁺ under basic condition at room temperature. We found that dimerization of benzofuran was occurred to form fluorescent derivative by the catalytic activity of palladium. The fluorescence intensity at 360 nm increased with increasing the concentration of Pd²⁺. The excellent selectivity for Pd²⁺ was demonstrated among other metal ions. Based on this findings, we successfully applied benzofuran-2-boronic acid to develop a microplate-based assay for high-throughput measurement of Pd²⁺. The detection limit (blank + 3SD) for Pd²⁺ of the proposed assay was 9.8 nM.     

Red-emitting salicylaldehyde Schiff base with AIE behaviour and large Stokes shift

Three salicylaldehyde Schiff base (SSB) with AIE behavior were designed and facilely synthesized through a condensation reaction. In solid and aggregation states, these SSB dyes exhibited yellow to red emission with large Stokes shift. One of SSB dyes could specifically stain lipid droplets in living cells.     

Imidazo[1,5-α]pyridine-derived fluorescent turn-on probe for cellular thiols imaging with a large Stokes shift

We presented the design, synthesis and preliminary evaluation of the 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonate (DNBS) of imidazo[1,5-α]pyridine derivative, NIPY-DNBS, as a turn-on fluorescent probe for the detection of thiols in aqueous solution. The reaction mechanism was confirmed by means of fluorescence, absorption and HRMS. The large Stokes shift (201 nm), high sensitivity (the detection limit for Cys was calculated to be as low as 0.17 μM) and fast response (10 min) of NIPY-DNBS make it a practical and reliable method for fluorescence imaging. Furthermore, application of NIPY-DNBS for the selective detection of intracellular thiols has been successfully demonstrated in living A549 cells.     

An ESIPT-based fluorescent probe for sensitive and selective detection of Cys/Hcy over GSH with a red emission and a large Stokes shift

An ESIPT-based fluorescent probe (Probe 1) using acrylate as recognition group for the selective and sensitive detection of cysteine/homocysteine (Cys/Hcy) has been developed. In the presence of Cys/Hcy, this probe was transformed into 1,3-bis(bispyridin-2ylimino)isoindolin-4-ol (dye 4) which displayed red fluorescence with a large Stokes shift (217 nm) when excited. The detection limits are as low as 5.4 nM and 7.0 nM for Cys and Hcy respectively (based on S/N = 3). Importantly, this probe has been successfully demonstrated for the detection of intracellular Cys/Hcy in living cells.     

Highly selective fluorescence turn-on determination of fluoride ions via chromogenic aggregation of a silyloxy-functionalized salicylaldehyde azine

A novel fluorescent chemsensor TBS-protected salicylaldehyde azine (TSAA) for fluoride ion was developed based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE). The probe TSAA was prepared by the reaction of salicylaldehyde azine (SAA) with tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride (TBS-Cl) via an unusual synthetic methodology and shows only non-emission. Upon treatment with fluoride in aqueous MeCN solution, the TBS protective group of probe TSAA was removed readily and the fluorescence of the probe was switched on, which resulted in a new fluorescence peak around 543 nm. The fluorescent intensity at 543 nm increases linearly with fluoride ion concentration in the range 1–50 μmol L^?1. This proposed probe shows excellent selectivity toward fluoride ion over other common anions and cations.     

Toward a highly sensitive and selective indole-rhodamine-based light-up probe for Hg2+ and its application in living cells

We herein designed and synthesized a light-up fluorescent probe L1 for Hg²⁺ species, which is based on indole derivative and Rhodamine fluorophore. The new probe can show a linear response to Hg²⁺ with high sensitivity and selectivity. As the Hg²⁺ concentration changed from 0 to 450 μM, the fluorescence intensity of L1 at 575 nm changed from 50 to 6181 (～120-fold). The detection limit of the probe was 5.0 × 10^?8 M. Besides, we have successfully applied L1 to monitor Hg²⁺ species in living MCF-7 cells by way of fluorescence imaging.     

A fluorescent sensor for Al3+ based on a photochromic diarylethene with a hydrazinobenzothiazole Schiff base unit

A new fluorescent turn-on chemosensor for Al³⁺ based on a diarylethene unit was designed and synthesized. Photochromism, fluorescence switch, and metal ion recognition behaviors of this diarylethene derivative were investigated by absorption and fluorescence emission spectra. It shows an outstanding fluorometric sensing ability toward Al³⁺ ion, and the detection limit was measured to be 9.3 × 10^?8 mol L^?1 via fluorescence methods. Based on these interesting properties, a combinational logic circuit was constructed successfully.     

A novel fluorescent probe with a large Stokes shift for real-time imaging mitochondria in different living cell lines

Fluorescent dyes with large Stokes shift play a key role in avoiding self-quenching and scattered light of dyes in the process of biological imaging. In this work, a novel mitochondria-targetable fluorescent dye (PI-C2) with large Stokes shift (e. g. Maximum value is 219 nm in DMSO) have been developed. Compared to the commercial mitochondria probes MTR and MTG (Less than 30 nm in various solution), the newly constructed PI-C2 has a much larger Stokes shift in various solutions (169–219 nm in various solutions). Furthermore, the probe can successfully be applied for sensing mitochondria, and exhibited excellent photostability in different living cell lines. The novel fluorescent platform with the large Stokes may be extended to construct powerful fluorescent probes with large Stokes shift for detecting a wide variety of biomolecules in mitochondria.     

Fused bis[2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole] derivatives for improved fluoride sensing: The impact of regiochemistry and competitive hydrogen bonding

Development of fluorescent chemical sensors for fluoride is important due to increased use of fluoride in environment. A fused bis[2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole] 5, which is capable of giving ESIPT emission, is found to be a useful fluorescent sensor for fluoride detection. Upon binding to fluoride, bis(HBO) 5 shows a large spectral shift in both fluorescence (from ～490 nm to ～440 nm) and absorption (from 353 nm to 392 nm). In comparison with the isomeric 4, bis(HBO) 5 dramatically improves the sensitivity in fluoride binding (by an order of magnitude), revealing a large impact of regiochemistry on the sensor performance. ¹H NMR has been used to study the fluoride binding, and to correlate the intramolecular hydrogen bonding with the fluoride response. Sensitivity of 5 towards fluoride is as low as 10^?5 M. Bis(HBO) 5 also showed excellent selectivity towards fluoride while being silent to other anions (Cl^?, Br^?, HS^? and PO₄^3?), thus making 5 a potentially useful probe.     

A fast,highly selective and sensitive dansyl-based fluorescent sensor for copper (II) ions and its imaging application in living cells

Since the copper ions (Cu²⁺) play a fatal role in many foundational physiological processes, it is important to develop a simple, highly sensitive and selective sensor for Cu²⁺ detection in living systems. Herein, an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and dansyl-based fluorescent chemosensor 1 was designed, synthesized and characterized for the sensitive and selective quantification of Cu²⁺. It exhibited remarkable fluorescence quenching upon addition of Cu²⁺ over other selected metal ions, attributed to the complex formation between 1 and Cu²⁺ with the association constant 6.7 × 10⁵ M^?1. The sensor 1 showed a fast and linear response towards Cu²⁺ in the concentration range from 0 to 12.5 × 10^?6 mol L^?1 with the detection limit of 2.5 × 10^?7 mol L^?1. This detection could be carried out in a wide pH range of 5.0–14. Furthermore, sensor 1 can be used for detecting Cu²⁺ in living cells.     

One-pot photoreduction to prepare NIR-absorbing plasmonic gold nanoparticles tethered by amphiphilic polypeptide copolymer for synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy

We developed one-pot photoreduction strategy to fabricate the NIR-absorbing plasmonic PLC-b-PEO@Au NPs. It possessed strong NIR absorption at 700-1100 nm, an ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency of 62.1%, and good photostability.     

Novel strategy of constructing fluorescent probe for MAO-B via cascade reaction and its application in imaging MAO-B in human astrocyte

A novel strategy was developed to detect MAO-B and image MAO-B in human astrocyte by constructing coumarin via cascade reaction and intramolecular cyclization.     

A simple and sensitive assay for apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1activity based on host-guest interaction of β-cyclodextrin polymer and pyrene

A simple and sensitive method for APE1 activity detection was developed based on fluorescence enhancement of pyrene in the presence of β-cyclodextrin polymer.     

Synthesis of a cationic poly(p-phenylenevinylene) derivative for lysosome-specific and long-term imaging

A cationic poly(p-phenylenevinylene) derivative (PPV) is designed and synthesized to bear quaternized N-methyl-imidazole groups, which is successfully utilized in lysosome-specific and long-term imaging.     

Fluorescence “turn-on” chemosensor for the selective detection of zinc ion based on Schiff-base derivative

N,N′-phenylenebis(salicylideaminato) (L) has been used to detect trace amounts of zinc ion in acetonitrile–water solution by fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescent probe undergoes fluorescent emission intensity enhancement upon binding to zinc ions in MeCN/H₂O (1:1, v/v) solution. The fluorescence enhancement of L is attributed to the 1:1 complex formation between L and Zn(II), which has been utilized as the basis for selective detection of Zn(II). The linear response range for Zn(II) covers a concentration range of 1.6 × 10^?7 to 1.0 × 10^?5 mol/L, and the detection limit is 1.5 × 10^?7 mol/L. The fluorescent probe exhibits high selectivity over other common metal ions, and the proposed fluorescent sensor was applied to determine zinc in water samples and waste water.     

A borondipyrrolemethene-based turn-on fluorescent probe for silver ion with high sensitivity and selectivity and its application in water samples and living cells

A borondipyrrolemethene-based compound (1) is synthesized and used as a “turn-on” fluorescent probe for silver ions (Ag⁺). The probe displays highly sensitive fluorescence response toward Ag⁺ with a 40-fold fluorescence enhancement when 60 μM of Ag⁺ is added. The fluorescence intensity of the probe is linearly dependent on Ag⁺ concentration ranging from 0.05 to 60 μM. And the detection limit (LOD) can reach 0.02 μM, which complies with the standard of World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water (0.9 μM). Moreover, the probe shows remarkable selectivity for Ag⁺ over other metal ions. Furthermore, the response behavior of 1 toward Ag⁺ is pH independent in the neutral range from 6.0 to 8.0. The response of 1 toward Ag⁺ is fast (response time is less than 2 min) and reversible chemically. What’s more, the sensing mechanism of probe 1 toward Ag⁺ is verified by mass spectra (MS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In particular, the probe is applied for detection of Ag⁺ in water samples and living cells successfully.     

A lysosomal targeting fluorescent probe and its zinc imaging in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells

A fluorescent probe based PET mechanism was designed, and the probe could image endogenous release of Zn²⁺ upon H₂O₂ stimulation in SH-SY5Y cells.