A novel fluorescent chemosensor for detection of mercury(II) ions based on dansyl-peptide and its application in real water samples and living LNcap cells

Mercury is one of the most hazardous pollutants, and mercury pollution is a serious hazard to our environment. Herein, we designed and synthesized a new peptide-based fluorescent chemosensor (L) based on a Fmoc-Lys (Fmoc)-OH backbone conjugated with two Serines and dansyl groups using solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) technology. L exhibited highly selective and excellent sensitive detection of Hg2+ ions in 100% aqueous solutions through fluorescence quenching. The chemosensor L forms a 2:1 stoichiometry with high binding constants (4.89×106M−1) and the detection limit for Hg2+ ions of the proposed assay was 7.59nM. In addition, the recovery test results of Hg2+ concentration in actual water samples showed that the quantitative detection of Hg2+ ions can be realized in two water samples. Moreover, L showed low cytotoxicity and excellent membrane permeability in HK2 cells, which has been successfully applied for monitoring Hg2+ ions in living LNCaP cells. [Display omitted] •A novel peptide-based fluorescent chemosensor (L) was synthesized.•L displayed highly selective to Hg2+ ions.•L was successfully applied to detect Hg2+ in two real water samples.•L exhibited low biotoxicity, and could detect Hg2+ in living LNcap cells.