Simultaneous imaging of protonated and deprotonated carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone in live cells by Raman microscopy

Abstract

We report the simultaneous imaging of protonated and deprotonated forms of carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone (FCCP) molecules in live cells by Raman microscopy. Nitriles, structure-sensitive Raman tags, are used to detect the two distinct molecular structures, demonstrating the potential of Raman microscopy for structure-based imaging of bioactive small molecules.