A novel non-enzymatic hydrolytic probe for dipeptidyl peptidase IV specific recognition and imagingElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c8cc05048a

A novel non-enzymatic hydrolytic probe for DPP IV is obtained. And this new probe can be used for special DPP IV recognition and imaging in living cells. Importantly, one general strategy for the construction of new non-enzymatic fluorescent probes for many important proteases can be proposed based on the present study. A novel non-enzymatic hydrolytic probe for DPP IV is obtained.