A novel BF2–curcumin-based fluorescent chemosensor for detection of Cu2+ in aqueous solution and living cells

• Published in: Research on chemical intermediates 2018, Vol.44 (9), p.5169-5180
• Main Authors: Li, Yuan, Ji, Yu-Xin, Song, Lin-Jiang, Zhang, Yi, Li, Zi-Cheng, Yang, Li, Huang, Wen-Cai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buffer solutions; Calcium ions; Catalysis; Cells (biology); Chemical sensors; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemoreceptors; Cobalt; Copper; Emission analysis; Fluorescence; Inorganic Chemistry; Manganese; Mercury (metal); Physical Chemistry; Sensors; Silver
• ISSN: 0922-6168; 1568-5675
• DOI: 10.1007/s11164-018-3416-y

A novel BF 2 –curcumin-based chemosensor 1 , namely monopicolinate of BF 2 –curcumin complex, was designed, synthesized and applied for the detection of Cu 2+ in aqueous buffer solution and living cells. Sensor 1 exhibited sensitive naked-eye color change toward Cu 2+ from blue to pink in TBS solution and the detection limit was estimated to be 0.12 µM. The selectivity of sensor 1 for Cu 2+ was high over competing metal ions (Ag + , Cu + , Hg 2+ , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Co 2+ , Zn 2+ , Mn 2+ , Ni 2+ , Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ). Based on the experimental results, the sensing mechanism was proposed for the Cu 2+ triggered hydrolysis of 1 to BF 2 –curcumin which has unique chromogenic and fluorogenic properties. Compared with other chemosensors with a similar mechanism, chemosensor 1 had a comparatively large Stokes shift and the emission wavelength was close to NIR. Moreover, cell imaging investigations indicated that sensor 1 has the potential to be applied for practical Cu 2+ detection in biological systems.