Ruthenium(II) complex-based fluorescent sensor for peroxynitrite

Abstract

We have developed a new ruthenium complex, Ru(bpy)2[4-(2,2′-bipyridin-4-yloxy)phenol]Cl2 (RuL), as a fluorescent sensor to detect peroxynitrite (ONOO−). The results showed that the addition of ONOO− to the aqueous solution of RuL would result in distinct fluorescence quenching at 600nm. RuL exhibits a good selectivity for ONOO− over other reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrite species (RNS), and the reaction time is less than 1.5s. The sensing mechanism is proposed as the oxidative O-dealkylation reaction.