An AIE and ESIPT based kinetically resolved fluorescent probe for biothiols

A new aggregation-induced emission and excited-state intramolecular proton transfer based fluorescent probe, containing a salicylaldazine moiety as a platform, displayed an excellent light-up ratio and a large Stokes shift for the detection of biothiols (cysteine, homocysteine, and glutathione). The salicylaldazine based fluorescent probe showed high selectivity, and sensitivity for biothiols. With the aid of different reactivities, a kinetically resolved method was successfully applied to distinguish different biothiols both in solution and cells.