ABSTRACT
A rhodamine-naphthalimide dyad probe, 1, that selectively responds to the addition of trivalent metal ions (Fe(3+) or Al(3+) or Cr(3+)) via ultrafast Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from naphthalimide to rhodamine is designed and synthesized. 1 is highly selective to the trivalent metal ions and the presence of other monovalent or divalent metal ions do not affect its detection ability. The probe is highly sensitive and it can respond to the presence of trivalent metal ions even at sub-micromolar levels. 1 is stable over a broad range of pH, non-toxic under experimental conditions and suitable to the fluorescence bio-imaging of live cells exposed to trivalent metal ions. The trivalent metal ion induced ultrafast energy transfer kinetics of 1 is explored using time resolved fluorescence experiments.
Subject(s)
Aluminum/isolation & purification , Biosensing Techniques , Chromium/isolation & purification , Iron/isolation & purification , Aluminum/chemistry , Cell Tracking/methods , Chromium/chemistry , Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer , Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry , HeLa Cells , Humans , Ions/chemistry , Ions/isolation & purification , Iron/chemistry , Kinetics , Molecular Imaging , Naphthalimides/chemistry , Rhodamines/chemistryABSTRACT
A naphthalimide based fluorescent probe '1' that operates based on photoinduced electron transfer phenomenon is synthesized and its chemosensory application is explored. Among various metal ions, 1 selectively detects Fe(3+) with a detection limit of 3.0 × 10(-8) M. 1 is stable at physiological pH, nontoxic under experimental conditions and suitable for the detection of Fe(3+) ions present in aqueous samples and live cells.