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A Colormetric and Fluorescence Probe for Highly Specific Cu2+ and its Application in Live Cell Imaging

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Abstract

Fluorescent probes are intriguing material for ion detection. In this study, 4,4-difluoro-4-bora3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) containing a dipicolylethylenediamine unit was developed as a colorimetric and fluorescence “turn-off” probe for Cu2+. The probe exhibited higher selectivity for Cu2+ than other common metal ions with a detection limit of 8.49 μM. With increasing Cu2+ concentration, the probe showed a red-shift in the absorption spectrum as well as fluorescence quenching, possibly due to the intramolecular charge transfer effect of the probe–Cu(II) complex. Furthermore, the probe was used for imaging Cu2+ in living cells based on confocal fluorescence imaging. The results show that the probe is an effective tool for detection copper ions.

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Data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21801057, 21871072). Theoretical calculations were performed at the Computational Center for Molecular Design of Organosilicon Compounds, Hangzhou Normal University.

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Author notes

  1. Shujun Ren and Linting Di are equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry and Material Technology, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311121, People’s Republic of China

    Shujun Ren, Linting Di, Chang-an Ji, Lizhi Gai & Hua Lu

Authors
  1. Shujun Ren
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  2. Linting Di
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  3. Chang-an Ji
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  4. Lizhi Gai
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  5. Hua Lu
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Contributions

Shujun Ren: Methodology, Synthesis and resources. Linting Di: Conceptualization investigation, material preparation. Chang-an Ji: Conceptualization, investigation. Lizhi Gai: Review, supervision writing, writing original draft. Hua Lu: Review, supervision.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lizhi Gai or Hua Lu.

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Ren, S., Di, L., Ji, Ca. et al. A Colormetric and Fluorescence Probe for Highly Specific Cu2+ and its Application in Live Cell Imaging. J Fluoresc 32, 2015–2021 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-022-03002-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-022-03002-4

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