A ratiometric fluorescent probe based on phenothiazine and HBI motif for rapid detection of HClO and its applications

A deep-red emissive fluorescence probe PT-HBI with phenothiazine and 4-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)-1,2-dimethyl-1H-imidazole-5(4H)-one (HBI) motif was designed and synthesized for rapid detection of HClO in a fine ratio-metric manner. PT-HBI exhibited remarkable ratiometric fluorescence response to HClO within 50 s, achieving a large Stokes shift (120 nm), high sensitivity (LOD = 0.31 mu M) and excellent selectivity. Among the tested ana -lytes, only addition HClO to PT-HBI enables result from a significant fluorescence change from red emission (lambda max = 660 nm) to yellow emission (lambda max = 540 nm) with the ratio of F540/F660 displaying a 175-fold enhancement. In particular, PT-HBI was capable of monitoring exogenous HClO in Hela cells by ratiometric fluorescence imaging. Moreover, the probe PT-HBI has provided an extensive application for detection of HClO in real water samples and on paper-based sensor to detect HClO in different concentration.

Automated summary

A new fluorescent probe, PT-HBI, was designed and synthesized for rapid and accurate detection of hypochlorous acid (HClO). The probe showed high sensitivity and excellent selectivity, making it suitable for detecting HClO in different concentrations of water samples and on paper-based sensors.