Construction of a novel isopinocamphone-based fluorescent probe for rapid and specific detection of ClO− and its application in environmental analysis and biological imaging

Abstract

Hypochlorite (ClO⁻) is an important oxidant and disinfectant in the human body and in nature. Nevertheless, it may exert an adverse impact on the environment and biological systems when its concentration is not appropriate. It is necessary to develop an accurate method for detecting ClO⁻. Herein, an isopinocamphone-based fluorescent probe DMTI for selective recognition of ClO⁻ was successfully synthesized. DMTI exhibited an obvious fluorescence enhancement towards ClO⁻ accompanied by a color shift from colorless to bright blue. The experimental results displayed that the probe DMTI had the merits of high selectivity, good sensitivity, and a wide detection pH range (6–10) for ClO⁻ detection, and the detection limit reached 2.6 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The sensing mechanism of DMTI to ClO⁻ was confirmed by the ¹H NMR and HRMS analyses. More importantly, the probe DMTI has been effectively utilized to detect ClO⁻ in environmental water samples, living cells and zebrafish encouraged by its excellent performance.