HBT-based turn-on fluorescent probe for discrimination of homocysteine from glutathione/cysteine and its bioimaging applications

Abstract

Based on ESIPT and heavy atom effect strategy, we firstly reported a new type of turn-on fluorescent probe for Hcy. This probe displayed fast response time (15 min), excellent selectivity over other interfering species and high sensitivity with a low detection limit of 1.6 × 10⁻⁷ M in PBS buffer containing 1% CH₃CN (v/v). Moreover, the probe was also successfully applied for fluorescence imaging of Hcy in HeLa cells.