A Novel and Simple Molecular Probe Sensing Hg(II) in Living Cells by Chelation-enhanced Fluorescence

Mercury is currently widely used in industries which leads to various means of Hg(II) waste exposure and its accumulation in organisms will cause neurological damages. Thus, there is a great need for the design of probes or sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity for detecting and monitoring Hg(II) at physiological pH. Thus a novel and simple molecular probe P1 was prepared from 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene)-bis(2,4-pentanedionato) for sensing Hg(II) via chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) mechanism. The probe indicated a selectively fluorescent response to Hg(II) in aqueous media excited by the ultraviolet light of 254 nm. The recognition mechanism was further studied by semi-empirical AM1 and molecular mechanics MM+ methods in HyperChem 8.0. The calculation indicated a tetrahedron coordination geometry for Hg(II) and a chair-like configuration for the total molecule. The fluorescent images sensing Hg(II) in living mouse fibroblast cells by the probe were obtained by fluorescence microscope.