A simple quinolimide-based fluorescent sensor for formaldehyde and its applications in test strips and living cells

Abstract

A simple fluorescent sensor H2 containing quinolimide as a fluorophore and hydrazine as a reaction site was designed and synthesized for the detection of formaldehyde (FA). H2 had the high selectivity and sensitivity to FA through the pseudo-first-order reaction (k = 0.048 min−1), exhibiting the significantly enhanced fluorescence signal. The quantitative determination range of H2 for FA was 0–180 μM, and the LOD of FA is 1.7 μM. Moreover, H2-loaded test strips were demonstrated in the visualization of sensing FA. And H2 was successfully applied for imaging FA in living cells.