Premium
A reactive probe for Co 2+ ion detection based on a catalytic decomposition process and its fluorescence imaging in living cells
Author(s) -
Ji Liguo,
Yang Chengliang,
Li Huijie,
Yang Nan,
Fu Yutian,
Yang Linlin,
Wang Qingzhi,
He Guangjie
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
luminescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1522-7243
pISSN - 1522-7235
DOI - 10.1002/bio.3909
Subject(s) - cobalt , chemistry , fluorescence , metal ions in aqueous solution , catalysis , photochemistry , ion , detection limit , mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , inorganic chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
A novel reactive fluorescent probe for cobalt ions was prepared based on integration of thiourea functional groups, coumarin, and naphthalimide fluorophores. There was no fluorescence observed for the probe itself, however, in the presence of cobalt ions, catalytic decomposition occurred for the probe and coumarin molecular fragments were produced that emitted blue fluorescence. This enabled the probe to be used as a ‘turn on’ reagent for detection of cobalt ions. Under physiological pH conditions and in appropriate solvent systems, an obvious fluorescence enhancement for cobalt ions was observed in selective experiments. Competition experiments indicated that cobalt ions could still induce fluorescence enhancement in the presence of other metal ions. Sensitivity experiments showed that the detection limit for cobalt ions was 6.0 nM. Dynamics research demonstrated that the catalytic process was a pseudo‐first‐order reaction and the reaction constant (k obs ) was calculated to be 1.49 × 10 −2 min −1 . In addition, the mechanism of catalytic decomposition could be demonstrated using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography experiments. Cell fluorescence imaging experiments demonstrated that the probe could be used to detect cobalt ions in living HeLa cells.