Abstract
Metal complexes are expected to serve as efficient imaging probes to understand the biological process. In this work, a series of new ZnX2 (X = Cl, Br, I) complexes (DMT-ZnCl2, DMT-ZnBr2 and DMT-ZnI2) based on terpyridine were synthesized and fully characterized. X-ray crystal structure analysis demonstrate that the coplanarity within the molecules presents a certain regularity (DMT-ZnCl2 > DMT-ZnBr2 > DMT-ZnI2). The photophysical studies demonstrate the absorption bands showed a regular bathochromic-shift from DMT-ZnCl2 to DMT-ZnI2 along with the fluorescence intensity and the quantum yields decreasing. Biological tests reveal that all the Zn(II) complexes possess low cytotoxicity, good membrane permeability and good photostability, and exhibit a strong fluorescence in the cytosolic space in living Hela cells. Given mentioned above, the Zn(II) complexes can act as a promising candidate for biological imaging agent.
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