A ruthenium(II) complex as turn-on Cu(II) luminescent sensor based on oxidative cyclization mechanism and its application in vivo

Yunfei Zhang, Zonglun Liu, Kui Yang, Yi Zhang, Yongqian Xu, Hongjuan Li, Chaoxia Wang, Aiping LYU, Shiguo Sun*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Copper ions play a vital role in a variety of fundamental physiological processes not only in human beings and plants, but also for extensive insects and microorganisms. In this paper, a novel water-soluble ruthenium(II) complex as a turn-on copper(II) ions luminescent sensor based on o-(phenylazo)aniline was designed and synthesized. The azo group would undergo a specific oxidative cyclization reaction with copper(II) ions and turn into high luminescent benzotriazole, triggering significant luminescent increasements which were linear to the concentrations of copper(II) ions. The sensor distinguished by its high sensitivity (over 80-fold luminescent switch-on response), good selectivity (the changes of the emission intensity in the presence of other metal ions or amino acids were negligible) and low detection limit (4.42 nM) in water. Moreover, the copper(II) luminescent sensor exhibited good photostability under light irradiation. Furthermore, the applicability of the proposed sensor in biological samples assay was also studied and imaged copper(II) ions in living pea aphids successfully.

Original languageEnglish
Article number8172
JournalScientific Reports
Volume5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2015

Scopus Subject Areas

  • General

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