Triazole based ratiometric fluorescent probe for Zn2+ and its application in bioimaging

• Triazole based ratiometric fluorescent sensor for Zn2+ was designed based on ESIPT mechanism.
• The probe displays long excitation wavelength and potential to quantify the concentration of Zn2+.
• High stability and cell-permeability is an additional feature of probe.
• The probe is applied successfully for recognizing intracellular Zn2+ within living cells.

An efficient fluorescent chemosensor 4-((2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methyleneamino)-3-phenyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione, based on triazole has been designed by condensing 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde with amine, appended to 1,2,4-triazole unit. The probe displays excellent selectivity and sensitivity in both absorbance and fluorescence detection of Zn2+ over other essential metal ions. The nature of fluorescence behavior of receptor upon addition of Zn2+ has been obtained from Density Functional Theory calculations. Imaging experiment indicates that probe works effectively for intracellular Zn2+ imaging with good cell permeability and biocompatibility.

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