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A simple fluorescent probe for the fast sequential detection of copper and biothiols based on a benzothiazole
Youming Shen1, Xiangyang Zhang2, Chunxiang Zhang2
1Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for The Construction & Development of Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde 415000, PR China; Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, PR China; Key Laboratory of Preparation and Application of Environmentally Friendly Materials (Jilin Normal University), Ministry of Education, Changchun 130103, PR China.
Abstract:
A simple benzothiazole fluorescent chemosensor was developed for the fast sequential detection of Cu2+ and biothiols through modulating the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. The compound 1 exhibits highly selective and sensitive fluorescence "on-off" recognition to Cu2+ with a 1:1 binding stoichiometry by ESIPT hinder. The in situ generated 1-Cu2+ complex can serve as an "on-off" fluorescent probe for high selectivity toward biothiols via Cu2+ displacement approach, which exerts ESIPT recovery. It is worth pointing out that the 1-Cu2+ complex shows faster for cysteins (within 1min) than other biothiols such as homocysteine (25min) and glutathione (25min). Moreover, the compound 1 displays 160nm Stoke-shift for reversibly monitoring Cu2+ and biothiols. In addition, the probe is successfully used for fluorescent cellular imaging. This strategy via modulation the ESIPT state has been used for determination of Cu2+ and Cys with satisfactory results, which further demonstrates its value of practical applications.
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