A labile iridium(III) complex-based luminogenic probe for the ratiometric detection of dithiocarbamate compounds in living system

Dithiocarbamate bioactive compounds are extensively used in agriculture and medicine, but traditional methods for the detection of dithiocarbamates are limited by complicated sensing systems and incompatibility with living systems. In this work, we developed an iridium(III) solvento complex (1) for the luminogenic detection of dithiocarbamates. The probe can sensitively detect a range of dithiocarbamates including sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (NDDC), sodium dimethyldithiocarbamate (SDDC) and ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) in aqueous buffer with up to 10.3-fold luminescence enhancement and limits of detection in the submicromolar range. Moreover, the probe has the capacity to detect dithiocarbamates in water and drink samples as well as in the presence of living cells. Importantly, this probe is robust to potential interferent including other coordinative thiols and histidine. This work serves as a good starting point for developing a single molecule-based sensing system for dithiocarbamates, and opens the door for developing new imaging probe for dithiocarbamates.