A novel carbazole-pyrimidine-based dual mode fluorescent probe for detection of acidic and basic pH in biological...

pH balance is an important factor in regulating the internal environment of body and maintaining the normal physiological activities, but pH cannot be detected in vivo without damaging the tissue. It is important to develop a pH probe with low toxicity, high sensitivity and targeting of organelles. In this research, a novel carbazole-pyrimidine-based probe PKZP was designed from 2-hydroxyl-3-pinanone which was derived from natural monoterpene α-pinene for detecting both acidic and basic pH in vivo. Probe PKZP demonstrated a response characterized by ratiometric fluorescence under acidic pH conditions, while exhibiting a quenching fluorescence effect under alkaline pH conditions. In addition, the two different assay performances demonstrated that probe PKZP possessed the outstanding merits including fast response (within 1 s), good photostability and excellent anti-interference performance. Furthermore, probe PKZP can be used as an efficient tool to detect exogenous acidic and basic pH in living organisms.