A modified fluorescein derivative with improved water-solubility for turn-on fluorescent determination of Hg2+ in aqueous and living cells

Publication date: 1 August 2017
Source:Talanta, Volume 170
Author(s): Shanyi Guang, Jiachan Tian, Gang Wei, Zhengquan Yan, Hongfei Pan, Jihong Feng, Hongyao Xu
To improve the water-solubility of heavy-metal sensing materials, a modified fluorescein-based derivative, acryloyl fluorescein hydrazine (ACFH), was designed and developed by incorporating a non-hydrogen-bonding group into the conjugated molecule for weakening intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions. In neutral water environments, ACFH presented a fluorescence-enhancement performance at λmax=512nm in the presence of Hg²⁺, which could be visualized by naked-eyes. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range of Hg²⁺ detection was 1.0–100×10⁻⁹molL⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992 and a detection limit of 0.86×10⁻⁹molL⁻¹. The recognition mechanism was confirmed to be a stable and irreversible 1:1 five-member ring complex between ACFH and Hg²⁺ with a coordination constant of 3.36×10⁹. ACFH would possess a potential application in detecting Hg²⁺ for biological assay with low cytotoxicity.

Graphical abstract

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