A "Turn-On" fluorescent probe for detection and removal of Zn2+ in aqueous and its application in living cells

Huizhen Wang; Tao Yang; Shaofei Ni; Zhengfeng Xie; Guanjun Chang

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2022.121501

A "Turn-On" fluorescent probe for detection and removal of Zn²⁺ in aqueous and its application in living cells

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2022 Nov 5:280:121501. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.121501. Epub 2022 Jun 15.

Authors

Huizhen Wang¹, Tao Yang², Shaofei Ni³, Zhengfeng Xie⁴, Guanjun Chang⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Engineering Technology Center for Insulation Materials, School of Material and Chemistry, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, P. R. China; School of Science, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China. Electronic address: 578527840@qq.com.
² Laboratory of Human Diseases and Immunotherapy, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy/Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
³ Department of Chemistry and Key Laboratory for Preparation and Application of Ordered Structural Materials of Guangdong Province, Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China. Electronic address: sfni@stu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials, National Engineering Technology Center for Insulation Materials, School of Material and Chemistry, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, P. R. China. Electronic address: gjchang@mail.ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 35749973
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.121501

Abstract

Using 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid hydrazine and 4-(diethylamino) salicylaldehyde. as raw materials, compound L with an acylhydrazones structure was synthesized. The structure of compound L was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray single crystal diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. The results show that Compound L can quickly and selectively recognize zinc ions in the H₂O/DMSO (V:V = 3:7) solvent system. After that, the spectral performance of probe L was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. The results show that the combination with Zn²⁺ can significantly enhance the fluorescence intensity of probe L while being almost unaffected by other coexisting ions. After that, Job's curve method, nuclear magnetic titration analysis, and mass spectrometry were used to study the binding mechanism of probe L and Zn²⁺. The results showed that probe L coordinated with Zn²⁺ is 1:1. The linear equations of different concentrations of Zn²⁺ and fluorescence intensity were obtained by fitting, and the detection limit of probe L for Zn²⁺ was determined to be 6.75 × 10^-9 mol/L. The experimental study of standard addition and recovery showed that probe L could be used for the quantitative detection of Zn²⁺ in natural water samples. After that, we prepared L-doped sodium alginate hydrogel (SAL). The research results show that SAL has obvious adsorption capacity for Zn²⁺ in solution, and the color change before and after adsorption can be easily distinguished by the naked eye under ultraviolet light. SEM-EDS study showed that the microscopic morphology and composition of SAL changed significantly before and after adsorption. This fluorescent probe can be used for detection and removal of Zn²⁺ in aqueous solution. Also, probe L is effective for sensing for zinc (II) in living tumor cells. Overall, this work allows us to obtain a great potential to be applied to detect and remove Zn²⁺.

Keywords: Cell imaging; Fluorescence probe; Natural environment; Zinc ions.

MeSH terms

Fluorescent Dyes* / chemistry
Ions
Spectrometry, Fluorescence / methods
Water / chemistry
Zinc* / analysis

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Ions
Water
Zinc