A Sensitive and Selective Ratiometric Near IR Fluorescent Probe for Zinc Ions Based on the Distyryl−Bodipy Fluorophore

Highly water-soluble neutral BODIPY dyes with controllable fluorescence quantum yields

A series of novel highly water-soluble neutral BODIPY dyes have been obtained by functionalization of BODIPY dyes with branched oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether groups at positions 8, 2 and 6 or 4 and 4'. Use of an ortho-substituent group of branched oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether on the meso-phenyl ring of BODIPY dyes and replacement of the fluorine atoms of BODIPY dyes at positions 4 and 4' with methyloxy or ethynyl subunits significantly enhance fluorescence quantum yields of BODIPY dyes.

Water-solubilisation and bio-conjugation of a red-emitting BODIPY marker

The synthesis and preliminary bio-conjugation studies of a novel water-soluble red-emitting di-styryl BODIPY dye are disclosed. Aggregation behaviour of this compound under physiological conditions was suppressed by specific introduction of a di-sulfonated peptide-based linker at the meso phenyl substituent, sultonated styryl arms and short polyethyleneglycol chains at the boron center. Thus, a good quantum yield of 22% in PBS for this red-emitting BODIPY was obtained. Introduction of an activated ester function enabled successful bio-conjugation to monoclonal antibodies and proteins.

Fluorescent chemosensors for Zn(2+)

In the past decade, fluorescent chemosensors for zinc ion (Zn(2+)) have attracted great attention because of the biological significance of zinc combined with the simplicity and high sensitivity of fluorescence assays. Chemosensors can be divided into a fluorophore, a spacer and a receptor unit; the receptor is the central processing unit (CPU) of a chemosensor. This tutorial review will classify zinc chemosensors based on receptor types.

Zn2+-triggered amide tautomerization produces a highly Zn2+-selective, cell-permeable, and ratiometric fluorescent sensor

It is still a significant challenge to develop a Zn(2+)-selective fluorescent sensor with the ability to exclude the interference of some heavy and transition metal (HTM) ions such as Fe(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Cd(2+), and Hg(2+). Herein, we report a novel amide-containing receptor for Zn(2+), combined with a naphthalimide fluorophore, termed ZTRS. The fluorescence, absorption detection, NMR, and IR studies indicated that ZTRS bound Zn(2+) in an imidic acid tautomeric form of the amide/di-2-picolylamine receptor in aqueous solution, while most other HTM ions were bound to the sensor in an amide tautomeric form. Due to this differential binding mode, ZTRS showed excellent selectivity for Zn(2+) over most competitive HTM ions with an enhanced fluorescence (22-fold) as well as a red-shift in emission from 483 to 514 nm. Interestingly, the ZTRS/Cd(2+) complex showed an enhanced (21-fold) blue-shift in emission from 483 to 446 nm. Therefore, ZTRS discriminated in vitro and in vivo Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) with green and blue fluorescence, respectively. Due to the stronger affinity, Zn(2+) could be ratiometrically detected in vitro and in vivo with a large emission wavelength shift from 446 to 514 nm via a Cd(2+) displacement approach. ZTRS was also successfully used to image intracellular Zn(2+) ions in the presence of iron ions. Finally, we applied ZTRS to detect zinc ions during the development of living zebrafish embryos.

Nickel(II) and iron(III) selective off-on-type fluorescence probes based on perylene tetracarboxylic diimide

Two novel "turn-on" fluorescent probes with perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (PDI) as the fluorophore and two different di-(2-picolyl)-amine (DPA) groups as the metal ion receptor (PDI-1 and PDI-2) were successfully synthesized with satisfactory yields. PDI-1 exhibited high selectivity toward Ni(2+) in the presence of various other metal cations including Zn(2+), Cd(2+) and Cu(2+) which were expected to interfere significantly. A 1 : 2 stoichiometry was found for the complex formed by PDI-1 and Ni(2+) by a Job's plot and by non-linear least square fitting of the fluorescence titration curves. By introducing an extra diamino ethylene group between DPA and the phenyl bridge, the receptor was modified and the high selectivity of the sensor toward Ni(2+) shifted to Fe(3+). The enhancement factor of the fluorescence response of PDI-2 to Fe(3+) was as high as 138. The binding behavior of the receptors in these two compounds is affected significantly by the PDI fluorophores. Most interestingly, both Ni(2+) and Fe(3+) are paramagnetic metal ions, which are known as fluorescence quenchers and are rarely targeted with "turn-on" fluorescence probes. This result suggests that PDIs are favorable fluorophores for a "turn-on" fluorescence probe for paramagnetic transition metal ions because of their high oxidation potential.

Functionalization of boron dipyrrin (BODIPY) dyes through iridium and rhodium catalysis: a complementary approach to alpha- and beta-substituted BODIPYs

Iridium-catalyzed direct borylation has been applied to meso-substituted dipyrromethane and boron dipyrrin (BODIPY) dyes. Borylation is highly regioselective and complementary: it occurs exclusively at the alpha position for meso-mesityldipyrromethane and at the beta positions for meso-mesityl BODIPY dye. This regioselective borylation enables a variety of alpha- and beta-substituted BODIPY dyes to be synthesized. Introduction of alpha,beta-enoate and alpha,beta,gamma,delta-dienoate functions into BODIPY dyes at the alpha or beta positions was achieved by rhodium-catalyzed Heck-type addition of the borylated compounds to acrylate and 2,4-pentadienoate esters. This functionalization has a significant effect on the electronic properties of BODIPY dyes, as seen in substantial redshift of the absorption and emission spectra. Comparative studies showed that the alpha- and beta-substituted series of BODIPY dyes show substantially different photophysical properties, and thus the importance of the position to be functionalized is highlighted.

A ratiometric fluorescent sensor for zinc ions based on covalently immobilized derivative of benzoxazole

In the present paper, we describe the fabrication and analytical characteristics of fluorescence-based zinc ion-sensing glass slides. To construct the sensor, a benzoxazole derivative 4-benzoxazol-2'-yl-3-hydroxyphenyl allyl ether (1) with a terminal double bond was synthesized and copolymerized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) on the activated surface of glass slides by UV irradiation. In the absence of Zn(2+) at pH 7.24, the resulting optical sensor emitted fluorescence at 450 nm via excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). Upon binding with Zn(2+), the ESIPT process was inhibited resulting in a 46 nm blue-shift of fluorescence emission. Thus, the proposed sensor can behave as a ratiometric fluorescent sensor for the selective detection of Zn(2+). In addition, the sensor shows nice selectivity, good reproducibility and fast response time. Cd(2+) did not interfere with Zn(2+) sensing. The sensing membrane demonstrates a good stability with a lifetime of at least 3 months. The linear response range covers a concentration range of Zn(2+) from 8.0x10(-5) to 4.0x10(-3) mol/L and the detection limit is 4.0x10(-5) mol/L. The determination of Zn(2+) in both tap and river water samples shows satisfactory results.

Water-soluble BODIPY derivatives

New, water-soluble BODIPY dyes have been readily obtained from various BODIPY cores by reactions involving the introduction of novel sulfonated peptide chains by either coupling or substitution to give dimethylpropargylamine derivatives subsequently quaternized by reaction with propanesultone.