A sensitive BODIPY-based fluorescent probe for detecting endogenous hydroxyl radicals in living cells

The hydroxyl radical (˙OH) has been suggested to play very vital roles in many physiological and pathological processes. However, selective detection of ˙OH is highly challenging owing to its extremely high reactivity and short lifetime. Herein, we designed and synthesized a sensitive "turn on" fluorescent probe for detecting endogenous ˙OH based on a BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) platform. The probe had shown good properties including high sensitively, ideal selectively and low cytotoxicity, and was successfully employed to image endogenous hydroxyl radical in living cells.