A reactive turn-on fluorescence probe for hypochlorous acid and its bioimaging application

An aza-BODIPY-CNOH probe attached aldoxime group demonstrated the specific detection for hypochlorous add by the turn-on red emission signal. NMR and HRMS experiments confirmed that the fluorescence originated from the oxidation degradation of the non-fluorescence, aldoxime-based aza-BODIPY-CNOH probe into the red-fluorescence, nitrile oxide-based aza-BODIPY compound aza-BODIPY-CNO. The aza-BODIPY-CNOH probe showed good biocompatibility and was low toxic to living cells as shown from MIT experiments. Living RAW264.7 cells imaging indicated the aza-BODIPY-CNOH probe had good permeability and either exogenous or endogenous HCIO caused the intracellular bright-red fluorescence, showing its potential hypochlorous acid-specific sensing ability in biological systems. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.