Fluorescence detection of Fe3+ ions in aqueous solution and living cells based on a high selectivity and sensitivity chemosensor

Abstract

Although ferric ion (Fe3+) performs critical roles in diverse biochemical processes in living systems, its physiological and pathophysiological functions have not been fully explored due to the lack of methods for quantification of Fe3+ ions in biological system. In this work, a highly sensitive and selective fluorescence chemosensor, L, was developed for the detection of Fe3+ ions in aqueous solution and in living cells. L was facile synthesized by one step reaction and well characterized by NMR, API-ES, FT-IR, and elementary analysis. The prepared chemosensor displayed excellent selectivity for Fe3+ ions detection over a wide range of tested metal ions. In the present of Fe3+ ions, the strong green fluorescence of L was substantially quenched. The 1:1 stoichiometry of the complexation was confirmed by a Job’s plot. The association constant (Ka) of L with Fe3+ was evaluated using the Benesi–Hildebrand method and was found to be 1.36×104M−1. The MTT assay determined that L exhibits low cytotoxicity toward living cells. Confocal imaging and flow cytometry studies showed that L is readily interiorized by MDA-MB-231 cells through an energy-dependent pathway and could be used to detect of Fe3+ ions in living cells.