Highly selective fluorescent probe based on a rhodamine B and furan-2-carbonyl chloride conjugate for detection of Fe3+ in cells

Abstract

A furan-2-carbonyl chloride modified rhodamine B derivative (RBFC) has been designed and synthesized. The probe RBFC exhibited excellent sensitivity and selectivity for detection of Fe3+ with a 1:1 stoichiometry over other tested metal ions in a MeOH/H2O (1:1, v/v, pH 7.36, HEPES buffer, 1.3 mM) solution. The association constant and the detection limit were calculated to be 7.28 × 103 M−1 and 0.437 μM based on fluorescence titration analysis. Furthermore, the probe RBFC was successfully applied in living cells, and the results indicated that the probe could monitor intracellular Fe3+ in MCF-7 cells.