A pyrene-based ratiometric fluorescent probe with a large Stokes shift for selective detection of hydrogen peroxide in living cells

Hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)plays a significant role in regulating a variety of biological processes.Dysregulation of H2O2 can lead to various diseases.Although numerous fluorescent imaging probes for H2O2 have been reported,the development of H2O2 ratiometric fluorescent probe with large Stokes shift remains rather limited.Such probes have shown distinct advantages,such as minimized interference from environment and improved signal-to noise ratio.In this work,we reported a new pyrene-based compound Py-VPB as H2O2 fluorescent probe in vitro.The probe demonstrated ratiometric detection behavior,large Stokes shift and large emission shift.In addition,the probe showed high sensitivity and selectivity towards H2O2 in vitro.Based on these excellent properties,we successfully applied Py-VPB to the visualization of exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in living cells.Cell imaging study also showed that our probe was localized in the mitochondria.We envision that the probe can provide a useful tool for unmasking the biological roles of mitochondrial H2O2 in living systems.

Fast Response Fluorescent Probe with a Large Stokes Shift for Thiophenol Detection in Water Samples and Cell Imaging

Herein,the 2,4-dinitrophenyl functional group acting as the thiophenol reactive site was introduced into a carbazole-chalcone fluorophore to synthesize probe-CCF2,which could result in a remarkable increase in fluorescence when reacting with thiophenols.The selectivity and accuracy of probe-CCF2 were investigated with thiophenols,hydrosulphide salt,aliphatic thiols,glutathione,cysteine,anions and metal cations.Probe-CCF2 exhibited a detection limit of 37 nmol/L(R^(2)=0.9951),a remarkable Stokes shift of approximately 130 nm,and a brief response time of 9 min with a remarkable increase in fluorescence of 90-fold.Probe-CCF2 was applied for thiophenol detection in water samples and imaging in living cells successfully,with high sensitivity and excellent selectivity.

Molecular engineering of ultra-sensitive fluorescent probe with large Stokes shift for imaging of basal HOCl in tumor cells and tissues

Fluorescent probes have been widely employed in biological imaging and sensing.However,it is always a challenge to design probes with high sensitivity.In this work,based on rhodamine skeleton,we developed a general strategy to construct sensitivity-enhanced fluorescent probe with the help of theoretical calculation for the first time.As a proof of concept,we synthesized a series of HOCl probes.Experiment results showed that with the C-9 of pyronin moiety of rhodamine stabilized by an electron donor group,probe DQF-S exhibited an importantly enhanced sensitivity(LOD:0.2 nmol/L)towards HOCl together with fast response time(<10 s).Moreover,due to the breaking symmetrical electron distribution by another electron donor group,the novel rhodamine probe DQF-S displayed a far red to near-infrared emission(>650 nm)and large Stokes shift.Bioimaging studies indicated that DQF-S can not only effectively detect basal HOCl in various types of cells,but also be successfully applied to image tumor tissue in vivo.These results demonstrate the potential of our design as a useful strategy to develop excellent fluorescent probes for bioimaging.

Efficient One-Pot Access to 2,9-Dihydrothiopyrano[2,3-b]indole Scaffolds Showing Large Stokes Shifts

A simple, mild and efficient one-pot approach for the construction of 2-aryl-3-nitro-2,9-dihydrothiopyrano- [2,3-b]indole derivatives has been realized in CH2C12 medium at ambient temperature via three-component tandem reaction of N-protected-2-chloro-3-formylindoles, sodium hydrosulfide and β-substituted nitroolefins/δ-substituted nitrodienes using DABCO （10 mol%） as an organocatalyst, followed by dehydration in the presence of activated molecular sieves （4 A）. The significant advantages of this protocol are simple operation, shorter reaction time, high atom economy, good to high yields （73%-89%） and wider substrate scope. In addition, all the synthesized com- pounds have shown the large positive Stokes shift values （5632-6081 cm ^-1）.

A near-infrared fluorescent probe for visualizing transformation pathway of Cys/Hcy and H2S and its applications in living system

Sulfydryl-contained(-SH)substances including hydrogen sulfide(H_(2)S),cysteine(Cys),homocysteine(Hcy)and glutathione(GSH)play crucial roles in living systems,and their variations are closely associated with various diseases.Herein,we developed a near-infrared intramolecular charge transfer(ICT)based fluorescent probe Y-NBD,achieving detection of Cys/Hcy and H_(2)S with different fluorescent signals(green-red for Cys/Hcy,red for H_(2)S),large Stokes shifts(∼100/105nm or 191 nm)and high signal-background-ratio,but not responding to GSH.Y-NBD was successfully applied to image exogenous/endogenous Cys/Hcy and H_(2)S in various living cancer cells(HeLa,A549,and HepG2)and in zebrafish.It not only visualized the transformation pathway of several thiols in HepG2 cells but also verified that the intestine is the main site for the activation and metabolism of Y-NBD in zebrafish,as well as realized to evaluate the degree of drug-induced liver injury.This work provides a promising tool for imaging Cys/Hcy and H_(2)S in living systems and shows great potency in evaluating drug-induced liver injury and its treatment.

A NIR fluorescent probe for imaging thiophenol in the living system and revealing thiophenol-induced oxidative stress

Thiophenol(PhSH)is an important raw material for organic synthesis,while its high toxicity to organisms makes it an environmental pollutant.Therefore,it is crucial to accurately detect PhSH and explore its metabolic process in the living system.Herein,a near-infrared(NIR)fluorescent probe TEM-FB was developed for sensing PhSH with a turn-on fluorescent signal at 719nm and a large Stokes shift(198 nm)based on generating the intramolecular charge transfer(ICT)process.TEM-FB shows high specificity and significant sensitivity towards PhSH(detection limit:10 nmol/L)via the aromatic nucleophilic substitution mechanism.Furthermore,it was successfully applied to image PhSH in multiple cell lines and in zebrafish.Notably,we revealed the oxidative stress process caused by PhSH and demonstrated that the hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))in cells would alleviate the poisonousness from exogenous PhSH for the first time.This work provides a promising bioimaging tool for monitoring PhSH in living systems and visualizing the process of oxidative stress induced by PhSH.

Coumarin-based two-photon AIE fluorophores: Photophysical properties and biological application

Based on the coumarin skeleton, we deliberately designed two groups of fluorophores, termed as CoumR and Naph-Coum-R, using the diphenylamino group as the electron donor, which displayed longwavelength emissions(red spectral region), large Stokes shift(up to 204 nm), superior AIE performance,and large two-photon absorbance cross-sections(as high as 365 GM). The electron-withdrawing substituents at the 3-position of these dyes could induce a significant red-shift in their emission spectra.Preliminary imaging experiments demonstrated the capability of these dyes as two-photon fluorophores for specifically staining lipid droplets in living cells.

Synthesis of novel thieno-[3,4-b]-pyrazine-cored molecules as red fluorescent materials

Two novel thieno-[3,4-b]-pyrazine-based molecules, TP-E and TP-O, were designed and synthesized for potential application as red fluorescent emitters. The bulky tetraphenylethylene groups were attached at the periphery of the thieno-[3,4-b]-pyrazine core to form the non-planar molecules, as efficient solid- state emitting materials. The peripheral groups were grafted to the emissive core through either a conjugated acetylene bond, or a non-conjugated ether bond. These molecules exhibit strnng red fluorescence in both dilute solutions and in thin films with large Stokes shifts of over 100 nm. The cyclic voltammetry measurements showed the reversible oxidation and reduction behavior for both compounds. All these properties indicate the two compounds are possible functional materials for use in ontoelectronic devices.

Donor-conformation-dependent energy transfer for dual-color fluorescent probe with high-resolution imaging

Herein,we presented a brand-new concept to construct the Forster resonance energy transfer(FRET)based cassette by integrating a vibration-induced emission(VIE)chromophore as the donor.Different from traditional donors only with a single emission,the VIE donor possessed well-separated dual emission bands by altering the excited state molecular configuration from the bent state to the planar state.By linking an acceptor such as a cyanine dye(Cy5),a novel VIE-FRET cassette(PPCy5)was prepared.The planar emission profile of the VIE donor moiety could fully cover the absorption of Cy5,and thus the complete FRET process enabled the excellent bimodal spectra difference of 142 nm and ultra-large pseudo-Stokes shift of up to 300 nm.Benefiting from the viscosity-dependent characteristic of the VIE donor,PPCy5 could clearly and intuitively reveal the different viscosity regions in vivo by dual-color and high-resolution imaging.The VIE-FRET paradigm provides an optional platform for developing donor-acceptor-based dual-color fluorescent probes with high-resolution imaging ability.