A turn-on BODIPY-based fluorescent probe for Hg(II) and its biological applications

In this paper, we developed a new selectively fluorescent probe for Hg2+ based on BODIPY. The probe exhibited strong affinity for Hg2+ over other metal ions. Treatment with Hg2+ would turn on the fluorescence of the probe, and strong green fluorescence could be observed. The binding constant (K-a) of the probe with Hg2+ was calculated to be 9.43 x 10(4) M-1 from a Benesi-Hildebrand plot and the detection limit was evaluated to be as low as 1.73 nM (LOD = 3 sigma/slope, sigma is standard deviation). Biological applications were investigated employing living HeLa cells, zebrafish and nude mouse. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.