A BODIPY-Based Highly Selective Fluorescent Chemosensor for Hg2+ Ions and Its Application in Living Cell Imaging

A new borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivative (FS1) containing two triazole units exhibits an enhanced fluorescence in the presence of Hg2+ ions and a high selectivity for Hg2+ ions over competing metal ions in methanol: Ag+, Ca2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, K+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+ produced only minor changes in the fluorescence of FS1. The apparent dissociation constant (Kd) of FS1Hg2+ was found to be 62 mu M. Moreover, fluorescence microscopy experiments showed that FS1 can be used as a fluorescent probe for detecting Hg2+ ions in living cells.