A novel fluorescent “turn-on” chemosensor for nanomolar detection of Fe(III) from aqueous solution and its application in living cells imaging

An electronically active and spectral sensitive fluorescent “turn-on” chemosensor (BTP-1) based on the benzo-thiazolo-pyrimidine unit was designed and synthesized for the highly selective and sensitive detection of Fe3+ from aqueous medium. With Fe3+, the sensor BTP-1 showed a remarkable fluorescence enhancement at 554 nm (λex=314 nm) due to the inhibition of photo-induced electron transfer. The sensor formed a host-guest complex in 1:1 stoichiometry with the detection limit down to 0.74 nM. Further, the sensor was successfully utilized for the qualitative and quantitative intracellular detection of Fe3+ in two liver cell lines i.e., HepG2 cells (human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line) and HL-7701 cells (human normal liver cell line) by a confocal imaging technique.