Single probe giving different signals towards reactive oxygen species and nitroxyl

•The first fluorescent probe sensing ROS and nitroxyl has been demonstrated.•The FRET coupled PET effect was observed as the channel for the sequence sensing.•Real-time imaging of peroxynitrite and nitroxyl in Hela cells was realized.

The first multi-channel probe giving different signals towards ROS and nitroxyl has been easily synthesized with a rational method which successfully showed blue emission towards peroxynitrite and hypochlorite and green emission towards nitroxyl in solution. The highly efficient oxidation of hypochlorite towards triphenylphosphine was discovered and utilized to distinguish hypochlorite and peroxynitrite with the aid of nitroxyl. A rare photoinduced electron transfer (PET) phenomenon from the donor fluorophore to the acceptor fluorophore was observed and adopted to give the signal of sequence sensing. Furthermore, the probe gave real-time signal selectively towards peroxynitrite and nitroxyl in Hela cells.

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