A reaction-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for mercury ion detection in aqueous solution

Shudi Liu; Di Feng; Liangwei Zhang; He Song; Yue Wang; Xia Zhang; Qingjun Zhao; Lingxin Chen

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.118817

A reaction-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for mercury ion detection in aqueous solution

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Dec 15:243:118817. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118817. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

Authors

Shudi Liu¹, Di Feng², Liangwei Zhang³, He Song¹, Yue Wang⁴, Xia Zhang⁴, Qingjun Zhao¹, Lingxin Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, PR China.
² College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, PR China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Research Centre for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China. Electronic address: liangweizhang@yic.ac.cn.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Research Centre for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Research Centre for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China. Electronic address: lxchen@yic.ac.cn.

PMID: 32829160
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118817

Abstract

Mercury ions are crucially harmful to ecosystem and human being due to their characters of bioaccumulation and difficulty of biochemical degradation. Therefore, development of mercury ion detection methods has attracted increasing interests recently. In this study, we successfully synthesized a hydroxyphenylbenzothiazole (HBT)-based fluorescent probe HBT-Hg in an extremely simple manner for mercuric ions detection. The spectral studies revealed that the probe HBT-Hg could react with Hg²⁺ selectively and sensitively in PBS buffer (10 mM, pH = 7.40), showing ratiometric fluorescent changes from blue to light green. The response mechanism of the probe HBT-Hg and Hg²⁺ was finally confirmed by HPLC analysis, viz., the probe HBT-Hg converted to its precursor compound 1. Finally, the probe HBT-Hg was successfully applied in monitoring Hg²⁺ in living A549 cells.

Keywords: Detection; Fluorescence imaging; Fluorescent probe; Mercury ion; Ratiometric.

MeSH terms

Ecosystem
Fluorescent Dyes
Humans
Ions
Mercury*
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
Water

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Ions
Water
Mercury