Search

Mercury, as a highly toxic heavy metal, can cause very serious harm to human health and even death in severe cases. Therefore, we synthesized a novel ratiometric fluorescent probe for detecting mercury ions, with mercaptoethanol as the recognition receptor. Probe CMER could determine mercury ions in 0-1.6 μM and the detection limit is 7.6 nM. Moreover, CMER manifested a fast response for Hg 2+ (within 5 s) and simultaneously observed that the color changed from light yellow to orange by naked eye. In addition to these preeminent spectral properties, the probe also had satisfactory bioimaging results in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells and zebrafish., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mercury is a highly toxic metal element, and the accumulation of mercury in the human body can cause great harm, including but not limited to brain damage, kidney damage and behavioral disorders. Therefore, an effective way to detect mercury ions in the environment is urgently needed. In this study, a novel fluorescent probe (CP-Hg) was synthesized with coumarin as the fluorophore and propanethiol as the recognition receptor. The probe was characterized with high sensitivity (detection limit is approximately 0.5 nM) and selectivity. Note that the probe can react with mercury ions with a distinct color change. In addition, it has been proved to have low toxicity and successfully applied to detect mercury in water samples, macrophages and zebrafish model.

Mercury (Hg) is a heavy metal with high toxicity and easy migration; it can be enriched through the food chain, and cause serious threats to the natural environment and human health. So, the development of a method that can be used to detect mercury ions (Hg 2+ ) in the environment, in cells, and in organisms is very important. Here, a new 7-hydroxycoumarin-derived carbonothioate-based probe (CC-Hg) was designed and synthesized for detection of Hg 2+ . After addition of Hg 2+ , a large fluorescence enhancement was observed due to the formation of 7-hydroxyl, which reinforced the intramolecular charge transfer process. The CC-Hg probe had good water solubility and selectivity. Moreover, the probe was able to detect Hg 2+ quantitatively over the concentration range 0-2 μM and with a detection limit of 7.9 nM. Importantly, we successfully applied the probe to detect Hg 2+ in water samples, in living cells, and in zebrafish. The experimental results demonstrated its potential value in practical applications., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The detection of ionic mercury (Hg2+) is very important because it is a highly toxic environmental pollutant that could cause serious diseases and threaten human health. Herein, we designed a new carbonothioate-based far-red fluorescent probe, CBRB, with a seminaphthorhodafluor dye as the fluorophore for the detection of Hg2+. The CBRB probe by itself exhibited very weak fluorescence due to the enhanced photo-induced electron transfer (PET) effect and inhibited the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process caused by the carbonothioate moiety. Upon addition of Hg2+, a tremendous fluorescence enhancement was achieved, attributed to the removal of the carbonothioate group via a specific mercury-promoted desulfurization reaction. Moreover, the probe displayed a large Stokes shift (about 105 nm) and was used to quantitatively measure the concentration of Hg2+ for concentrations ranging from 0 to 1 μM (DL = 3.6 nM). In addition, CBRB in our experiments responded exclusively to Hg2+, even in the presence of high concentrations other ions. Gratifyingly, this probe was successfully used to monitor Hg2+ in environmental water samples and to image Hg2+ in living cells as well as in zebrafish.

Mercury (Hg), as the only heavy metal that can complete the cycle in the biosphere, can further accumulate in the human body through the food chain, causing irreversible damage to the human liver, endocrine, bone, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to detect and remove mercury ions (Hg2+). In this study, a new water-soluble naphthalimide-based turn-on fluorescent probe NIML for Hg2+ was designed and synthesized by modifying with morpholine. The detection and removal of Hg2+ could be realized by the binding of NIML with Hg2+ to form a specific "imide–Hg–imide" structure. The binding of NIML and Hg2+ resulted in aggregation, which can be observed by the Tyndall effect (TE). Fluorescence emission enhancement occurred when the probe combined with Hg2+; this turn-on probe can effectively avoid the false positive signal caused by environmental factors and make the monitoring results more reliable. In addition, probe NIML has good water solubility and can be directly used to detect actual water samples without worrying about the aggregation of probe molecules in the aqueous solution. A toxicity test showed that probe NIML was less toxic and could be used for imaging living cells and zebrafish. Importantly, this study not only provides a new methodology for the design of simple water-soluble turn-on fluorescent dyes but also improves the shortcoming of insoluble naphthalimide dyes through structural optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel, as a transition metal, is widely used in industrial production and distributed in human body as an essential micronutrient. But the excessive presence of nickel can also cause pollution to the environment and produce harm to human body. Hence, the sensitive detection of metal nickel has attracted widespread attention. Compared with other heavy metal ions, such as mercury ions, lead ions, chromium ions, the reported fluorescence probes for nickel ions are relatively less and lack of simple and effective detection methods. In addition, most of the reported fluorescent probes for nickel ions are of coordination type, which leads to some limitations in sensitivity and selectivity. Therefore, we constructed a reactive fluorescent probe FA-Ni to achieve highly selective and ultra-sensitive recognition of nickel ions. The probe FA-Ni can quickly and sensitively recognize nickel ions (DL = 1.87 nM), avoid the interference of other ions, so as to realize the selective detection of nickel ions. Meanwhile, probe FA-Ni can be used for the detection of nickel ions in environmental water samples and soil samples (recovery rates > 90%), indicating that FA-Ni is of great significance in environmental applications. The probe FA-Ni can also be applied to the detection of nickel ions in living cells and achieve in-situ imaging, which is expected to provide an important auxiliary tool for the diagnosis of related diseases and a powerful means to understand the physiological function of nickel ions. [Display omitted] • Probe FA-Ni could quantitatively and sensitively detect Ni2+ with low detection limit (DL = 1.87 nM). • The color change of the solution after reaction can be observed with the naked eye. • Probe FA-Ni has excellent selectivity for Ni2+ compared to other interfering ions. • Probe FA-Ni was successfully applied to detect Ni2+ in environmental water samples, soil samples and living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is very important to determine mercury owing to its complex biological poisonousness that could cause various physical diseases and even death. In this study, we designed a novel coumarin-based ratiometric fluorescent probe, CR-Hg , with DL-dithiothreitol moiety as the recognition receptor to detect mercury ions (Hg2+). CR-Hg could realize the quantitative detection of Hg2+ between 0 and 1.4 μM with low detection limit (1.6 nM). Furthermore, CR-Hg could react quickly with Hg2+ in a few seconds and accompanied by color changes from pale yellow to orange. In the end, the applications of CR-Hg in the water samples, living cells and zebrafish more deeply indicated that the probe could serve as a novel promising tool for revealing mercury distribution in the environment and organisms. Image 1 • Probe CR-Hg is a colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe for Hg2+. • CR-Hg could quantitatively and sensitively detect Hg2+ (DL = 1.6 nM). • CR-Hg could rapidly detect Hg2+ (within 5 s). • CR-Hg displayed prominent selectivity toward Hg2+ than other various species. • CR-Hg could be applied to determining Hg2+ in water samples, live cells and zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]