A turn-on fluorescent probe with high selectivity and large stokes shift for the detection of hydrogen peroxide and its bioimaging applications

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plays pivotal roles in various biological functions and pharmacological activities. High selectivity and sensitivity remain challenges for fluorescent probes to detection of H2O2 with a large stokes shift. Herein, a new turn-on fluorescent probe (DCM-C) was designed based on the mechanism of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). In PBS buffer (10 mM, pH 7.4, with 20% DMSO, v/v), DCM-C exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity for H2O2 over other interfering analytes with a large stokes shift (187 nm), and the detection limit was as low as 35.5 nM. In addition, the probe was effective for detecting exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in living cells, and identifying stained in cytoplasm. Moreover, the probe has been used successfully for determining H2O2 in zebrafish by fluorescence imaging. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The newly designed turn-on fluorescent probe DCM-C shows high selectivity and sensitivity for detecting H2O2, with a detection limit as low as 35.5 nM. It can effectively identify and detect exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in cells, and is suitable for fluorescence imaging in zebrafish.