Hypochlorite-Activated Fluorescence Emission and Antibacterial Activities of Imidazole Derivatives for Biological Applications

• Published in: Frontiers in chemistry 2021-07, Vol.9, p.713078-713078
• Main Authors: Pham, Thanh Chung, Nguyen, Van-Nghia, Choi, Yeonghwan, Kim, Dongwon, Jung, Ok-Sang, Lee, Dong Joon, Kim, Hak Jun, Lee, Myung Won, Yoon, Juyoung, Kim, Hwan Myung, Lee, Songyi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antibacterial effect; Chemistry; fluorescent sensor; fluorogenic probe; hypochlorite sensor; probe–killer
• ISSN: 2296-2646; 2296-2646
• DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.713078

The ability to detect hypochlorite (HOCl/ClO ) is of great importance to identify and visualize infection. Here, we report the use of imidazoline-2-thione ( ) probes, which act to both sense ClO and kill bacteria. The N C=S moieties can recognize ClO among various typical reactive oxygen species (ROS) and turn into imidazolium moieties ( ) desulfurization. This was observed through UV-vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy, with a high fluorescence emission quantum yield (Փ = 43-99%) and large Stokes shift (∆v∼115 nm). Furthermore, the probe, which was prepared by treating the probe with ClO , also displayed antibacterial efficacy toward not only ( ) and ( ) but also methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing (ESBL-EC), that is, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These results suggest that the probe has great potential to carry out the dual roles of a fluorogenic probe and killer of bacteria.