A highly selective turn-on fluorescence probe with large Stokes shift for detection of palladium and its applications in environment water and living cells

• Published in: Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy Vol. 267; no. Pt 2; p. 120500
• Main Authors: Gao, Zhigang, Qiu, Siyan, Yan, Minchuan, Lu, Shaohui, Liu, Haibo, Lian, Huihui, Zhang, Peng, Zhu, Jing, Jin, Mingjie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 15.02.2022
• Subjects: Cell imaging; Fluorescence probe; Fluorescent Dyes - analysis; HeLa Cells; Humans; Palladium; Palladium - toxicity; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Stokes shift; Tsuji-Trost reaction; Water; Tsuji-Trost reaction; Stokes shift; Palladium; Fluorescence probe; Cell imaging
• ISSN: 1386-1425; 1873-3557
• DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.120500

[Display omitted] •The probe specially detected palladium based on Pd0-mediated Tsuji-Trost reaction.•The probe could selectively detect palladium with large Stokes shift (155 nm).•The dramatic color changes (from colorless to blue) could be observed by naked eyes.•The detection limit of the probe was 0.140 μM.•The probe was successfully applied to detecting palladium in real water samples and HeLa cells. Nowadays, palladium has been widely used in many fields, which facilitates all aspects of our life. However, it may cause water and soil pollution and bring irreversible damage to the environment and organisms. Developing a fluorescence probe for rapid, highly sensitive and selective detection of palladium is still a poser. In this work, we designed and synthesized a novel fluorescence probe (RHS) for specific detection of palladium. Based on Pd0-mediated Tsuji-Trost reaction, the fluorescence probe was constructed by a rhodol derivative as thefluorophore and an allyl carbonate moiety as the specific palladium reactive site. The probe displayed excellent properties for detecting palladium, such as high selectivity and sensitivity, rapid response (20 min) and large Stokes shift (155 nm). The detection limit was determined to be as low as 0.140 μM with a linear range from 20 to 80 μM. After addition of palladium in RHS solution, the color of the solution turned from yellow to blue, indicating palladium could be monitored by the naked eyes. Moreover, probe RHS was successfully applied to palladium detection in environmental water samples. Importantly, with low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility, the probe could monitor palladium in living cells.