Highly selective and safe 'in vitro' detection of biologically important 'Uric acid' in living cells by a new fluorescent 'turn-on' probe along with quantum chemical calculation

A very important human body content and biologically active Uric acid (UA) was specifically and selectively detected by a new fluorescent 'turn-on' probe (R1). Sharp and instant colour change from colourless to pink and visually detectable bright red fluorescence made the probe very useful for easy detection of UA. New peak generation at colour region for both UV and fluorescence spectra suggested the strong hydrogen bonding interaction and complex formation between R1 and UA. Very clear 'off-on' fluorescence response and the non-hazardous nature of R1 were fruitfully applied for in vitro detection of UA in living HeLa cells. This chemosensor has also been applied to quantify the actual concentration of UA in blood serum collected from clinical laboratory. The probable binding mode and the optimized geometries of the probe and its complex were calculated by quantum chemical (DFT) calculation. (c) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.