A "turn-on" fluorescent probe with high selectivity and large stokes shift for the detection of hydrogen peroxide and its bioimaging applications

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) plays pivotal roles in various biological functions and pharmacological activities. High selectivity and sensitivity remain challenges for fluorescent probes to detection of H₂O₂ with a large stokes shift. Herein, a new "turn-on" fluorescent probe (DCM-C) was designed based on the mechanism of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). In PBS buffer (10 mM, pH 7.4, with 20% DMSO, v/v), DCM-C exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity for H₂O₂ over other interfering analytes with a large stokes shift (187 nm), and the detection limit was as low as 35.5 nM. In addition, the probe was effective for detecting exogenous and endogenous H₂O₂ in living cells, and identifying stained in cytoplasm. Moreover, the probe has been used successfully for determining H₂O₂ in zebrafish by fluorescence imaging.

Keywords: Fluorescence imaging; Fluorescence probe; Hydrogen peroxide; Large stokes shift.