Two-photon fluorescent probes for biological Mg(2+) detection based on 7-substituted coumarin

Two novel water-soluble coumarin-based compounds (OC7, NC7) were designed and synthesized as two-photon fluorescent probes for biological Mg(2+) detection. The compounds feature a β-keto acid as a high selective binding site for Mg(2+) and the coumarin framework as the two-photon fluorophore. OC7 and NC7 show significant "off-on" detecting signals (9.05-fold and 23.8-fold fluorescence enhancement) and lower detection limits compared with previous reported two-photon fluorescent probes for Mg(2+). Moreover, OC7-Mg(2+) and NC7-Mg(2+) exhibit large two-photon absorption cross sections (340 and 615 GM) at the near-infrared wavelengths (740 and 860 nm), which indicates that the probes are very suitable for detection of Mg(2+) in vivo. Both OC7 and NC7 are pH-insensitive and of low cytotoxicity and can be applied to image intracellular Mg(2+) under two-photon microscopy (TPM). Our results provide a strategy to modify the coumarin fluorophore to get better two-photon fluorescent properties. And the results also suggest that electronic density of β-keto acid plays a very important role in the recognition of Mg(2+).