Short communicationA new tetraphenylethylene based AIE probe for light-up and discriminatory detection of Cys over Hcy and GSH

A tetraphenylethylene based aggregation induced emission (AIE) probe, TPENNO2, bearing a 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl pendant was designed and synthesized for light-up and discriminatory detection of Cys over Hcy and GSH in PBS. The 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl group quenched the fluorescence of TPENNO2. While after thiol group promoted nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction, TPENNO2 can be converted to fluorescent TPENH2. The discriminatory detection of Cys over Hcy and GSH comes from the different reaction kinetic profiles of TPENNO2 with the thiol residues of Cys, Hcy and GSH. Moreover, TPENNO2 can be used to image biothiols in living HeLa cells.