Naphthalene-dicyanoisophorone hybrid fluorescent probe for detection of hypochlorite based on cyclization mechanism

Abstract

Fluorescent probe is a powerful tool for studying hypochlorite (ClO⁻) effects in biological systems. Here we reported a novel fluorescent probe (E)-2-(5,5-dimethyl-3-(2-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)naphthalen-1-yl)vinyl)cyclohex-2-en-1-ylidene)malononitrile NP, for the sensing of ClO⁻ with a low detection limit (78 nM) and large Stokes shift (170 nm). Mechanism studies demonstrated an amine ring-forming process, resulting in a pyrrole ring structure that caused the fluorescence enhancement. Furthermore, NP was successfully used to imagine both endogenous and exogenous ClO⁻ in living cells and mice. This study provided a new opportunity for construction of ClO⁻ fluorescent probe application in biomedical imaging and biosensing.