Fluorescence sensing and bioimaging of Cu(ii) ions using amino-1,8-naphthalimide-based small-molecule chemosensors

Abstract

Fluorescence chemosensors for selective sensing and quantification of biologically important metal ions have attracted substantial research interest in recent years. Cu(II) is the third most abundant transition metal ion and an essential heavy metal ion present in the human body. Cu(II) plays many essential functions in living systems as a catalytic co-factor in various enzyme functions and electron transport. The alteration in the essential concentration of Cu(II) causes several deadly diseases like Menke's syndrome, Wilson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Given this, in the past decades, many small-molecule fluorescence sensors have been developed and employed for trace detection and monitoring the concentration of Cu(II) ions in biological systems. In particular, amino-1,8-naphthalimide fluorescence sensors have gained special research interest for Cu(II) sensing because of their facile synthesis, easy functional, structure tunability, and strong fluorescence emission in the visible region. In this article, we have discussed the applications of various amino-1,8-naphthalimide-based small-molecule fluorescence chemosensors for selective sensing and bioimaging of Cu(II) ions. In each section, we provide a detailed report on the synthesis, photophysics, and fluorescence sensing properties including bioimaging of amino-1,8-naphthalimide-small-molecule fluorescence chemosensors for Cu(II) ions.