Tetrasubstituted imidazole-based multifunctional fluorophores: trace water detection and lipid droplets (LDs) imaging studies

Abstract

The tetrasubstituted imidazoles, TSIm-1 & TSIm-2 with flexible and rigid core respectively, displayed the remarkable photophysical properties as well as aggregation-induced emission. TSIm-1 exhibited the trace water detection in THF with LOD of 0.03 wt%. Importantly TSIm-1 & TSIm-2 both efficiently targeted the lipid droplets (LDs) with high specificity in the HeLa cells and these probes were further applied to monitor LDs growth induced by oleic acid-mediated lipid accumulation.