Borondipyrromethene-derived Cu2+ sensing chemodosimeter for fast and selective detection

Here, we report a new Cu2+-selective fluorescent turn-on probe BODIPY-EP, in which the 2-pyridinecarboxylic acid is connected to a 6-hydroxyindole-based BODIPY platform through an ester linkage. The ester bond of BODIPY-EP is selectively hydrolyzed by the reaction with Cu2+ under mild and neutral conditions to generate BODIPY-OH, showing strong characteristic fluorescence of BODIPY-OH. The favorable features of BODIPY-EP towards Cu2+ include fast response, large fluorescence enhancement and high selectivity. We further demonstrated that the membrane-permeable probe reacts with intracellular Cu2+ and exhibits bright fluorescence in living cells.