A red-emitting fluorescent probe for biothiols detection with a large Stokes shift

A highly selective red-emitting fluorescent probe for biothiols detection was developed. The addition of biothiols to the solution of this probe, 1, resulted in a strong red fluorescence with an obvious color change from red to claybank. This colorimetric and fluorescent dual probe exhibited a low detection limit (15 nM) and a large Stokes shift (147 nm) in detecting biothiols. Importantly, the utility of this probe for sensing intracellular thiols was successfully demonstrated in living HNE-2 cells. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.