A colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe with Meldrum's acid as the recognition group for in vitro and in vivo imaging of hypochlorite

The detection of ClO- is vital to comprehend the accurate effect of ClO- in various diseases and therapeutic interventions by fluorescent probe method. Herein, a special ratiometric probe DDD was designed and efficiently synthesized via a simple process for hypochlorite detection. The selectivity and sensitivity of probe DDD was excellent and the detection was not influenced by other reactive oxygen species. Probe DDD exhibited a fast response (<1 s), wide Stokes Shift (>100 nm), sensitive limit of detection (78 nM) and two well-separated emission (555 rim and 635 nm). The emission intensities ratio (I-555/I-635) was linearly enhanced (I-555/I-635 = 0.6273X - 1.9313) with the ClO- concentration range from 4.0 to 20.0 mu M. Furthermore, probe DDD has been successfully evaluated in monitoring exogenous HClO in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and zebrafish larvae with low cytotoxicity, good cell permeability and biocompatibility.