Thioacetal modified phenanthroimidazole as fluorescence probe for rapid and sensitive detection of Hg~(2+) in aqueous solution assisted by surfactant

摘要

A novel fluorescence probePISOHcomprising phenanthroimidazole as a fluorophore and thioacetal as recognition unit is designed and synthesized.PISOHdisplays high selective turn-on fluorescence response toward Hg2+with no interference from other metal cations, such as Cu2+, Ag+, Fe3+, Pb2+, etc.PISOHcan be converted to the corresponding aldehydePICHOin the presence of Hg2+, based on the Hg2+promoted deprotection of thioacetal. Moreover, the fluorescence emission and sensing properties ofPISOHcan be modulated by surfactants in aqueous solution.PISOHexhibits a detection limit (LOD) of 1.16 nM for Hg2+in aqueous Triton X-100 solution, much lower than that in DMF (LOD = 6.83 nM). The response time ofPISOHfor Hg2+is around 1 min, suitable for rapid detection of Hg2+. Furthermore, the probe can be used to monitor Hg2+effectively in living cells by fluorescence imaging. This work represents a novel and simple strategy for sensing of Hg2+in pure water by using commercially available surfactants to solubilize fluorescent probe.