Carbazole-thiophene based fluorescent probe for selective detection of Cu2+ and its live cell imaging

[Display omitted] •A novel fluorescent probe based on carbazole-thiophene was developed for specific Cu2+ detection in living cells.•The fluorescent probe has a rapid response for Cu2+ detection within 5 s over a wide range of pH.•The fluorescent probe displayed high sensitivity and selectivity for Cu2+ with a detection limit of 0.29 μM.•The fluorescent probe has good cell-membrane permeability and low cytotoxicity, and can successfully visualization the fluctuation of the intracellular Cu2+ concentration. Highly sensitive and specific imaging of copper ion (Cu2+) in living cells is essential for better understanding the physiological and metabolic processes. We develop a novel fluorescent probe based on carbazole-thiophene for specific Cu2+ detection in living cells. Job’s plot and density functional theory (DFT) confirmed a stoichiometric ratio of 2:1 between the probe molecules and Cu2+. This probe exhibits strong fluorescence in aqueous media, while its fluorescence intensity significantly decreased in the presence of Cu2+. An in vitro assay shows that the fluorescent probe has rapid response within 5 s and high sensitivity for the detection of Cu2+ in the range from 1 to 10 μM with a detection limit of 0.29 μM. Live cell studies reveal that the fluorescent probe has good cell-membrane permeability and can successfully visualize the fluctuation of the intracellular Cu2+ concentration. In addition, the fluorescent probe has low cytotoxicity, which may provide a new tool for monitoring other analytes in living cells.