Issue 17, 2021

Pyridine-pyrazole based Al(iii) ‘turn on’ sensor for MCF7 cancer cell imaging and detection of picric acid

Abstract

We report herein the development of a new pyridine-pyrazole based bis-bidentate asymmetric chemosensor that shows excellent turn-on chelation-enhanced Al3+-responsive fluorescence. The presence of two ‘hard’ phenolic hydroxyl groups plays a pivotal role in switching-on the sensing through coordination to the ‘hard’ Al3+ ion, while the mechanism can be interpreted by the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) process. The X-ray single structure show a planar conjugated structure of the ligand, which was further stabilized by extensive H-bonding and π–π stacking. The photophysical studies related to the sensing behavior of the titular ligand toward aluminum was investigated in detail using various spectroscopic techniques like UV-Vis, photoluminescence, fluorescence and time-correlated single-photon count (TCSPC) and time-resolved NMR. The spectroscopic methods also confirm the selective detection of Al3+ ion in the presence of other metal ions. The theoretical calculations using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and the Time Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) provide further insight on the mechanistic aspects of the turn-on sensing behavior including the electronic spectra of both the ligand and the complex. Interestingly, the as-synthesized H2DPC–Al complex can also be utilized as a fluorescence-based sensor for various nitroaromatics including picric acid, for which an INHIBIT logic gate can also be constructed. The as synthesized complex was subsequently used as a fluorescent probe for imaging of human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) cells using live cell confocal microscopic techniques.

Graphical abstract: Pyridine-pyrazole based Al(iii) ‘turn on’ sensor for MCF7 cancer cell imaging and detection of picric acid

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Jan 2021
Accepted
25 Feb 2021
First published
09 Mar 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 10094-10109

Pyridine-pyrazole based Al(III) ‘turn on’ sensor for MCF7 cancer cell imaging and detection of picric acid

S. Saha, A. De, A. Ghosh, A. Ghosh, K. Bera, K. S. Das, S. Akhtar, N. C. Maiti, A. K. Das, B. B. Das and R. Mondal, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 10094 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00082A

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