A fluorescent probe based upon anthrancene-dopamine thioether for imaging Hg2+ ions in living cells

A novel anthrancene-dopamine thioether L compound was designed as fluorescent probe for detecting Hg2+ in living cells sample. L exhibits a good sensitive and selective recognition towards Hg2+ ions in the presence of other important relevant metal ions and amino acids in HEPES solution. The addition of Hg2+ causes a marked enhancement in the fluorescence emission intensity with the detection limit as low as 1.1×10−6M, combining with obvious colormetric change from colorless to pale brown. Mechanistic studies show that catechol group and sulfur atom in L all participate in the coordination with Hg2+, though catechol group contributes mainly to chelation-enhanced fluorescence enhancement and sulfur atom to selectivity. Furthermore, L demonstrates good cell permeability and compatibility for sensitive fluorescent detection of Hg2+ in HepG2 cells. This present probe will have broad applications in biological imaging. [Display omitted] •Hg2+ fluorescent probe is developed based on anthrancene-dopamine thioether.•The probe exhibits good selectivity of fluorescence turn-on sensing of Hg2+.•Good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity allow its application in living cell imaging.