A simple pyrene-based fluorescent probe for highly selective detection of formaldehyde and its application in live-cell imaging

Anal Chim Acta. 2018 Nov 29:1033:180-184. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2018.05.065. Epub 2018 May 25.

Abstract

A novel and simple pyrene-based fluorescent probe (B1) was synthesized and used for the detection of formaldehyde (FA). When B1 was added to FA in CH3CH2OH/HEPES (10 mM, pH = 7.4, 1:99, v/v) solution, the solution system strongly enhanced the fluorescence. Over various small molecular species, probe B1 showed high sensitivity and selectivity for detecting FA, with a low limit of detection (0.107 μM). Furthermore, probe B1 was successfully applied for visualizing FA in human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells, demonstrating its value of application in living biomedical samples.

Keywords: Fluorescence; Formaldehyde; Probe; Pyrene; Turn-on.

MeSH terms

  • Fluorescence
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Formaldehyde / analogs & derivatives
  • Formaldehyde / analysis*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Optical Imaging*
  • Pyrenes / chemical synthesis
  • Pyrenes / chemistry*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Pyrenes
  • Formaldehyde
  • pyrene