A novel cyanostilbene derivative as a selective fluorescent chemoprobe for hydroxyl radicals was synthesized. The chemoprobe shows strong green emission in aqueous solution with the addition of hydroxyl radicals. Conversely, negligible emission changes are observed upon addition of other reactive oxygen species. The chemoprobe 1 shows high sensitivity, having the low detection limit of ∼1.0 × 10-7 M. Furthermore, the fluorescent chemoprobe exhibits low cytotoxicity and is effectively applied to bioimaging of hydroxyl radicals by two-photon confocal microscopy in HeLa cells. These results indicate that the new chemoprobe has great potential for bioimaging in vivo and in vitro systems.
Keywords: cyanostilbene; fluorescent chemoprobe; hydroxyl radical; living cell; reactive oxygen species.