A novel on-off-on fluorescent chemosensor for relay detection of Fe3+ and PPi in aqueous solution and living cells

A novel on-off-on fluorescence chemosensor BP based on benzothiazole for the relay recognition of Fe3+ and PPi was designed and synthesized. The chemosensor BP exhibited a high affinity to Fe3+ in the presence of other competing cations. The resultant BP-Fe3+ showed excellent recognition ability for PPi via Fe3+ displacement approach. The detection limits of BP for Fe3+ and BP-Fe3+ for PPi were estimated to be 2.59 x 10(-8) M and 8.47 x 10(-8) M, respectively. The low cytotoxicity and good cell-membrane permeability of BP and BP-Fe3+ complex makes them capable of Fe3+ and PPi imaging in living Hep G2 cells. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.