A simple, cyanovinylene-based, ratiometric, colorimetric and fluorescent chemodosimeter for the specific and sensitive detection of HClO in living cells

Abstract

The development of techniques for the specific and sensitive detection of HClO is of great importance owing to the diverse functions of HClO in the environment and biological systems. In this paper, based on the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism, we have designed and synthesized a simple, ratiometric, colorimetric and fluorescent chemodosimeter 4-(2-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-2-cyanovinyl)phenylboronic acid (BTCBA) for the specific detection of HClO over other various analytes. ICT-based chemodosimeter BTCBA displayed a large (124 nm) red-shifted ratiometric absorption spectrum and the color changes from colorless to green upon addition of HClO with a fast response time (completed within 1 min). BTCBA could act as a “naked-eye” indicator for HClO, and thus it would provide a convenient method for monitoring HClO in the environment. Additionally, BTCBA could detect HClO quantitatively in the range of 0–14 μM with the detection limit of 9.5 nM (3σ/slope) using the turn-on fluorescence spectrometry method. The ultrasensitive and fast response properties offer the chemodosimeter BTCBA a pleasant opportunity to monitor the fluctuation of exogenous HClO levels in living cells, and we thus anticipate that this chemodosimeter would provide a promising tool for further unraveling the diverse functions of HClO in biological sciences.