Boranil dye based “turn-on” fluorescent probes for detection of hydrogen peroxide and their cell imaging application

Abstract

The synthesis of boranil dye fluorescent probes for the detection of hydrogen peroxide has been described. The probes exhibited high selectivity in sensing hydrogen peroxide among other reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and biologically pertinent species. The probes display good sensitivity and a rapid response time. The sensing mechanism was ascertained by ESI-MS analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The probes have been successfully applied for imaging of H₂O₂ in HeLa cells under physiological conditions.