Responsive polymer-based multicolor fluorescent probes for temperature and Zn^2＋ ions in aqueous media

We report on the fabrication of fluorescent and multicolor probes for Zn^2＋ ions and temperature from a mixture of three types of fluorophore-labeled responsive block copolymers in aqueous media. Quinoline-based Zn^2＋-recognizing fluorescent mono- mer ZQMA, red-emitting rhodamine B-based monomer RhBEA, and blue-emitting coumarin derivative Coum-OH, were syn- thesized first. A ZQMA-labeled well-defined double hydrophilic block copolymer （DHBC）, PEG-b-P（MEO2MA-co-ZQMA）, was synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer （RAFT） polymerization of 2-（2-methoxyethoxy）ethyl methacrylate （MEOzMA） and ZQMA by utilizing a PEG-based macroRAFT agent. Following similar procedures, PEG-b-P（St-co-RhBEA） amphiphilic diblock copolymer and PEG-b-P（MEOzMA-co-Coum） DHBC were also synthesized, where P（St-co-RhBEA） was a RhBEA-labeled polystyrene （PS） block. At room temperature in aqueous solution, almost non- fluorescent PEG-b-P（MEOzMA-co-ZQMA） can effectively bind Zn2＋ ions, leading to prominent green fluorescence enhance- ment due to the coordination of ZQMA with Zn^2＋ ions. However, by mixing red-emitting PEG-b-P（St-co-RhBEA） and blue-emitting PEG-b-P（MEO2MA-co-Coum） with PEG-b-P（MEO2MA-co-ZQMA） at an appropriate ratio, three color transitions could be observed. In the absence of Zn^2＋ ions, a mixed pink fluorescent originating from Coum and RhBEA was ob- served; upon the addition of a certain amount of Zn^2＋ ions, the green fluorescence enhanced dramatically, leading to a white fluorescence readout. By further increasing the amount of Zn2＋ ions, the green fluorescence further enhanced and overwhelmed the blue and red emissions, leading to a green-dominant mixed-fluorescence emission. In addition, upon increasing the temperature, the fluorescence of Coum decreased considerably due to the fluorescence-resonance energy transfer （FRET） between Coum and ZQMA moieties. In this way, a ratiometric fluorescent thermometer can be constructed.