Latest ArticlesA new chiral bromobinaphthol-pyrene compound was developed to achieve a green circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) from its excimer with a dissymmetry factor (|glum|) value of 4.3×10-3 and a high quantum yield ΦF, solid up to 55.9%, while no CPL signals could be observed for the blue luminescence from unimolecule. Meanwhile, reversal CPL signals can be observed from both concentrated solution and solid.
A highly sensitive fluorescent sensor ZnDN was designed, synthesized and used for tracking intracellular zinc ions in various living cells and direct imaging of prostatic tissue in mice. ZnDN was prepared from the heterocyclic-fused naphthalimide fluorophore, and the zinc receptor, N, N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (BPEN). Upon addition of Zn2+ to the solutions of ZnDN, a remarkable fluorescence enhancement was observed, which could be attributed to the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. Since ZnDN exhibited high sensitivity toward Zn2+ in phosphate buffer solution, with a limit of detection of 4.0×10-9 mol/L, it was further applied for the imaging of exogenous and endogenous Zn2+ in different living cells. Living cells imaging experiments suggested that ZnDN could image the changes of intracellular free zinc ions, and could be used for two-photon imaging. Moreover, flow cytometry suggested that ZnDN could distinguish cancerous prostate cells from normal cells. Animal experiments indicated that ZnDN had the potential in imaging prostate tissue in vivo.
Directly monitoring mitophagy-specific viscosity dynamic in living cells is of great significance but remains challenging. Herein, this study reported a novel mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe DPAC-DY based on vibration-induced emission (VIE) for monitoring viscosity changes during mitochondrial autophagy. This probe contained N, N'-diphenyl-dihydrodibenzo[a, c]phenazine (DPAC) as the VIE core and two positively charged pyridinium moieties for mitochondria anchoring. As the ambient viscosity increased, the vibration of DPAC-DY could be hindered, and subsequently resulting in the enhancement of fluorescence emission. In vitro and intracellular experiments indicated that the probe DPAC-DY showed highly sensitive response to viscosity due to VIE mechanism. Importantly, by virtue of this probe, in situ and real-time visualization of the specific viscosity dynamics during the mitochondrial autophagy process was achieved. Thus, this work provides a novel strategy for VIE-based viscosity response sensors applied to specific organelles and offers a platform for in-depth study of mitochondrial viscosity-related diseases.
In this article, an acid-responsive luminescent material, 1, 4-di(quinoline-6-yl)buta-1, 3-diyne (DQBD) is designed and synthesized. Upon different pH values, gradual changes of fluorescence colors for DQBD in both solution and solid phases are demonstrated due to the protonation effect. Moreover, such responsive characteristics can also be reversible, suggesting DQBD as a promising fluorescent material with great potential for reusable- and accurate-pH sensors in the future.
Three fluorescent BINOL-Si complexes (FS1, FS2 and FS3) were rationally designed and synthesized to detect diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP), a mimic of lethal nerve agents. These three fluorescent probes showed green, yellow and orange fluorescence, respectively. Moreover, the series of fluorescent probes has the characteristics of fast response time (≤4 s), low detection limit (0.0097 μmol/L), high sensitivity and naked eye detection. More important, a fiber optic sensor capable of detecting DCP vapor in real time was also prepared for the first time, the lowest detection limits (down to 4.4 ppb) were all lower than that of the IDLH (immediately dangerous to life or health) concentration of Sarin (7.0 ppb).
Under the public spotlight, uranyl (UO22+) ions has attracted considerable attention for the extreme radioactive and chemical toxicity to ourselves and our environment. Herein, we present a simple and effective ratiometric fluorescence imaging method for the visualizing and quantitative detection UO22+ ions by cellphone-based optical platform. The sensing solution was prepared by mixing label-free red carbon dots (r-CDs) and blue carbon dots (b-CDs) together with a fixed photoluminescence intensity ratio of 4:1. When UO22+ ions were added, the fluorescence of r-CDs can be selectively quenched, while the fluorescence of b-CDs remains stable without spectral changes. With the gradually increase the amounts of UO22+ ions, the different response of dual-color CDs resulted in a signification color evolution from deep red to dark purple under the ultraviolet (UV) light illumination. Then, a cellphone-based optical platform was constructed for directly imaging the color change of the samples, and the built-in Colorpicker APP quickly output the red, green and blue (RGB) channel values of these images within one second. Interesting, there was a linear relationship between the ratio of red and blue (R/B) channel values and UO22+ ions concentration from 0 μmol/L to 30.0 μmol/L (R2 = 0.92804) with the detection limit of ~8.15 μmol/L (signal-to-noise ratio of 3). In addition, the optical platform has also been applied to the quantification of UO22+ ions in tap water and river water sample. With the advantage of low-cost, portable, easy to operation, we anticipate that this method would greatly improve the accessibility of UO22+ ions detection even in resource-limited areas.
A ratiometric probe (HBT-HBZ) bearing 2-hydrazino benzothiazole and 3-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzaldehyde for sensing hypochlorous acid (HClO) with high selectivity and sensitivity is reported in this article. The fluorescence intensity ratios (I470 nm/I572 nm) of the probe with different concentrations of analyte showed excellent selectivity and a linear response to minor changes in HClO. The detection limit of 24 nmol/L suggests that the sensor is very sensitive to HClO. According to the series of performed experiments, HBT-HBZ has practical applications, such as the detection of HClO residues in tap water, which has been rarely reported. In addition, confocal laser microscopy experiments confirmed that HBT-HBZ can selectively recognize HClO in HeLa cells. A ratiometric probe (HBT-HBZ) for sensing HClO with high selectivity and sensitivity is reported in this article. The probe exhibited high selectivity for HClO among other ROS, RNS and anions. In addition, HBTHBZ has some practical applications such as the analysis of the HClO content in tap water. Furthermore, confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging showed that HBT-HBZ can be applied for detecting HClO in living cells.
Fluorescent probes have been widely employed in biological imaging and sensing. However, it is always a challenge to design probes with high sensitivity. In this work, based on rhodamine skeleton, we developed a general strategy to construct sensitivity-enhanced fluorescent probe with the help of theoretical calculation for the first time. As a proof of concept, we synthesized a series of HOCl probes. Experiment results showed that with the C-9 of pyronin moiety of rhodamine stabilized by an electron donor group, probe DQF-S exhibited an importantly enhanced sensitivity (LOD: 0.2 nmol/L) towards HOCl together with fast response time (< 10 s). Moreover, due to the breaking symmetrical electron distribution by another electron donor group, the novel rhodamine probe DQF-S displayed a far red to near-infrared emission (>650 nm) and large Stokes shift. Bioimaging studies indicated that DQF-S can not only effectively detect basal HOCl in various types of cells, but also be successfully applied to image tumor tissue in vivo. These results demonstrate the potential of our design as a useful strategy to develop excellent fluorescent probes for bioimaging.
Polymorphism makes it possible to clarify the relationship between emission property and crystal structure. However, based on the exact molecular conformation in tetraphenylethene polymorphisms, it is still challenging to evaluate the difference of intramolecular coplanarity without the support of calculation because of the complex combination of four different torsion angles between four peripheral benzenes and the central ethylene plane. Here, by using a di-formyl-functionalized tetraphenylethene derivative, two ideal polymorphisms with a consistent trend of the corresponding torsion angles have been obtained. For the first time, we explicitly demonstrated that intramolecular coplanarity is the underlying cause of the polymorphism-dependent emission of tetraphenylethene derivatives.
Thioxo/dithioxo-naphthalimide is a class of rarely visited fluorophore, first synthesized in 1999. Facile chemistry was devised to achieve mono or dual thionation of the two carbonyl groups of 1, 8-naphthalimide. Thionation effectively shifts absorption maximum to longer spectral wavelength, significantly increase absorption coefficients, and dramatically enhances intersystem crossing efficiency with respect to their oxo-analogues. They were first explored as potent photocleavers to induce DNA strand break and novel photosensitizers for photodynamic therapies. In recent years, the unique chemistry of thioxo groups has been harnessed to achieve new applications, such as fluorescent sensors for heave metal ions. These unique photochemical and photophysical characteristics revitalize them intriguing functional molecules to investigate. In this short review, we wish to revisit their first discovery, facile synthesis, and the endeavors on the use of thioxo/dithioxo-naphthalimides for novel chemical and biomedical applications.
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