Abstract
Since the accumulation of mercury (II) ions in the environment and ecosystem causes serious problems to environment and disease, the recognition of Hg2+ ions and its bio-imaging is of high importance. In sight of the advantages of fluorescence probes, a new probe (PMH) was facilely synthesized by incorporating phenylimidazole fluorophore and 3-methyl-2- benzothiazolinone hydrazone hydrochloride monohydrate. The PMH probe exhibited a ratiometric response for Hg2+ ions with fluorescence intensity increasing at 520 nm and decreasing at 445 nm simultaneously. The PMH probe interacted with Hg2+ ions in seconds with high optical stability and showed good selectivity over other metal ions. In addition, the probe has excellent biocompatibility and imaging performance in cells and zebrafish.
Highlights
Mercury is one of the most toxic elements widely existing in water and soil which brings serious threat to the environment and health along with the excessive utilizations in industry and agriculture [1–6]
Ions (Hg2+ ions) in water are concentrated in aquatic organisms and enriched into the human body, which leads to the dysfunction of cells and damages the central nervous and endocrine systems, giving rise to a series of diseases, including acrodynia disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Hunter–Russell syndrome disease etc. [7–10]
Hg2+ ions could be monitored by several testing technologies such as electrochemical analysis, laser ablations inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, atomic absorptions spectrometry, voltammetry, UV–vis spectrometry, and atomic emission spectrometry, etc. [16–18]
Summary
Mercury is one of the most toxic elements widely existing in water and soil which brings serious threat to the environment and health along with the excessive utilizations in industry and agriculture [1–6]. Molecules 2019, 24, 2268 under photo-oxidation conditions so that it has a wide application in photochemistry and some probes based on phenylimidazole have been developed [27–31]. Most of these probes response to Hg2+ ions through single emissions intensity change by fluorescence quenching or enhancement, which is likely to be limited to temperature, solvent polarity, medium characteristics, excitations power, dye concentrations, and other factors. The PMH probe exhibited a remarkable ratiometric fluorescence response upon the addition of Hg2+ ions. The recognition capability of PMH to Hg2+ ions showed rapid response and excellent stability, which was beneficial to real-time detection. The PMH probe has excellent selectivity towards Hg2+ over other metal ions.
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