Coumarin-based Hg2+ fluorescent probe: Fluorescence turn-on detection for Hg2+ bioimaging in living cells and zebrafish

Abstract

The need in developing fluorescent probes for trace metal ion detection in biological samples has been an important issue. Herein, a reaction-based fluorescent probe PIC containing a perimidine moiety was designed and synthesized for Hg2+ detection. The probe can selectively distinguish Hg2+ with 42-fold fluorescent enhancement from the other metal ions at physiological pH. This probe can detect Hg2+ with the detection limit of 1.08 mu M. The sensor PIC can be applied to real-time detection of Hg2+ in cells with blue emission. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.