Carbon-Dipyrromethenes: Bright Cationic Fluorescent Dyes and Potential Application in Revealing Cellular Trafficking of Mitochondrial Glutathione Conjugates.

Boron-dipyrromethenes (Bodipys), since first reported in 1968, have emerged as a fascinating class of dyes in the past few decades due to their excellent photophysical properties including bright fluorescence, narrow emission bandwidth, resistance to photobleaching, and environment insensitivity. However, typical Bodipys are highly lipophilic, which often results in nonfluorescent aggregates in aqueous solution and also severely limits their bioavailability to cells and tissues. In this work, based on a simple one-atom B → C replacement in the Bodipy scaffold, we present a new class of carbon-dipyrromethenes (Cardipys for short) fluorescent dyes with tunable emission wavelengths covering the visible and near-infrared regions. These Cardipys not only retain the excellent photophysical properties of conventional Bodipys but also show improved water solubility and photostability due to their cationic character. Moreover, the cationic character also makes them extremely easy to penetrate the cell membrane and specifically accumulate into mitochondria without resorting to any mitochondria-targeted groups. Interestingly, several Cardipys bearing active styryl groups could serve as fluorescent indicators to map cellular trafficking of the glutathione conjugates produced within mitochondria under the catalysis of glutathione S-transferase (GST), thus showing potential in either exploring the detoxification mechanism of the mitochondrial GST/GSH system or evaluating the drug resistance of cancer cells that is closely related with GST activity.

Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cascade Cyclization To Access 3-Sulfonated Indenones with the AIE Phenomenon.

An efficient copper-catalyzed radical cascade cyclization strategy was developed, by which a wide variety of 3-sulfonyl substituted indenones were prepared in one pot via reaction of 2-alkynylbenzonitriles with sulfonyl hydrazides in the presence of TBHP and CuI under mild reaction conditions. Much more importantly, the 3-sulfonyl indenones, synthesized through our newly developed copper-catalyzed radical cascade cyclization strategy, were found to own typical aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties, showing orange to red emission with large Stokes shift (more than 135 nm). In addition, such newly found AIEgens could be successfully used in live cell imaging, exhibiting excellent biocompatibility and application potential.

Phosphorus Radical-Initiated Cascade Reaction To Access 2-Phosphoryl-Substituted Quinoxalines.

An effective radical cascade cyclization strategy was developed, by which a wide range of 2-phosphoryl-substituted quinoxalines were prepared in one pot via reaction of ortho-diisocyanoarenes with diarylphosphine oxides in the presence of AgNO3 under mild reaction conditions.

Construction of a selective fluorescent probe for GSH based on a chloro-functionalized coumarin-enone dye platform.

Glutathione (GSH), the most abundant intracellular biothiol, protects cellular components from damage caused by free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and plays a crucial role in human pathologies. A fluorescent probe that can selectively sense intracellular GSH would be very valuable for understanding of its biological functions and mechanisms of diseases. In this work, a 3,4-dimethoxythiophenol-substituted coumarin-enone was exploited as a reaction-type fluorescent probe for GSH based on a chloro-functionalized coumarin-enone platform. In the probe, the 3,4-dimethoxythiophenol group functions not only as a fluorescence quencher through photoinduced electron transfer (PET) to ensure a low background fluorescence, but also as a reactive site for biothiols. The probe displays a dramatic fluorescence turn-on response toward GSH with the long-wavelength emission (600 nm) and significant Stokes shift (100 nm). The selectivity of the probe toward GSH over cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), and other amino acids was demonstrated. Assisted by laser-scanning confocal microscopy, we have demonstrated that the probe could specifically sense GSH over Cys/Hcy in human renal cell carcinoma SiHa cells.

A mitochondria-targetable fluorescent probe for dual-channel NO imaging assisted by intracellular cysteine and glutathione.

A mitochondria-specific fluorescent probe for NO (1) was synthesized by the direct conjugation of a pyronin dye with one of the amino groups of o-phenylenediamino (OPD). The probe could selectively detect NO over dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), ascorbic acid (AA), and methylglyoxal (MGO) as well as the reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) with the significant off-on response due to the production of a red-emission triazole 2. In the presence of cysteine/glutathione (Cys/GSH), 2 could be further transformed into a green-emission aminopyronin 4 and a red-emission thiopyronin 5, respectively. Assisted by intracellular Cys and GSH, the probe demonstrated its potential to monitor mitochondrial NO in a dual-channel mode.

Simultaneous fluorescence sensing of Cys and GSH from different emission channels.

A chlorinated coumarin-hemicyanine dye with three potential reaction sites was exploited as fluorescent probe for biothiols. The Cys-induced substitution-rearrangement-cyclization, Hcy-induced substitution-rearrangement, and GSH-induced substitution-cyclizatioin cascades lead to the corresponding amino-coumarin, amino-coumarin-hemicyanine, thiol-coumarin with distinct photophysical properties, enabling Cys and GSH to be selectively detected from different emission channels at two different excitation wavelengths.

Constructing a fluorescent probe for specific detection of cysteine over homocysteine and glutathione based on a novel cysteine-binding group but-3-yn-2-one.

A but-3-yn-2-one-based 7-diethylaminocoumarin dye was exploited as a fluorescent probe to specifically detect Cys over Hcy/GSH in pure PBS buffer. The probe itself is nonfluorescent due to the donor-excited photoinduced electron transfer (d-PET) process. The Cys-induced Michael addition-rearrangement cascade reaction leads to an amino-substituted product with strong fluorescence due to inhibiting C[double bond, length as m-dash]C isomerization induced fluorescence quenching by a produced intramolecular N-HO hydrogen bond. The Hcy (or GSH)-induced Michael addition reaction leads to a thiol-substituted product (or ), which lacks any intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction, and thus displays very poor fluorescence due to the efficient C[double bond, length as m-dash]C isomerization induced fluorescence quenching. Even in the presence of Hcy (or GSH), the probe could also detect Cys with the obvious fluorescence enhancement. Assisted by using a laser scanning confocal microscope, we demonstrated that the probe could selectively image Cys in the human renal cell carcinoma 786-0 cells.

Construction of NIR and ratiometric fluorescent probe for Hg2+ based on a rhodamine-inspired dye platform.

A rhodamine-inspired fluorescence dye (2) bearing 7-diethylaminocoumarin fluorophore was designed as a platform for the construction of an NIR and ratiometric fluorescent probe. The ring-open form of 2 shows NIR absorption and emission; however, its ring-closed form displays the visible absorption and emission because an intact 7-diethylaminocoumarin fluorophore was involved in the structure, providing the basis for an NIR and ratiometric fluorescent platform based on the spirocyclization-induced fluorescence switching mechanism. With the platform, we developed a novel NIR and ratiometric fluorescent probe R1, a thiolactone of 2, for sensing Hg2+, an environmentally and biologically concerned species. R1 displays an emission peak with the maximum at 480 nm, which is the typical emission of 7-diethylaminocoumarin moiety; however, upon addition of Hg2+ ions, the emission intensity at 480 nm gradually decreased with the simultaneous appearance of a new NIR emission band centred at 695 nm. Thus, the Hg2+-promoted ratiometric fluorescence response can be realized. The high selectivity towards Hg2+ over various cations and the high stability in a wide pH range of 1­12 indicate its potential for applications in biological systems. The subsequent cell imaging experiment revealed that R1 is cell permeable, and could be employed for ratiometric fluorescence imaging of Hg2+ in living cells.

A fluorescent turn-on probe for bisulfite based on hydrogen bond-inhibited C=N isomerization mechanism.

A fluorescence turn-on probe for bisulfite has been developed by taking advantage of the specific reaction of bisulfite and aldehyde in combination with the hydrogen bond inhibited C=N isomerization mechanism. The practical value of this selective and sensitive fluorescent probe was confirmed by its application to detection of bisulfite in granulated sugar.

D-luciferin analogues: a multicolor toolbox for bioluminescence imaging.

Colorful mixture: Three types of luciferin analogues, that is, alkylaminoluciferins, aminoselenoluciferin, and luciferins with a benzimidazole scaffold, have been reported. These analogues show excellent bioluminescent properties and great potential in bioluminescence imaging.

Rhodamine-inspired far-red to near-infrared dyes and their application as fluorescence probes.

Probes to dye for: Rhodamine-inspired Si-pyronine, Si-rhodamine, Te-rhodamine, and Changsha NIR dyes have been developed recently. These dyes show fluorescence in the far-red to near-infrared region, while retaining the advantages of the original rhodamines, such as high fluorescence quantum yield, tolerance to photobleaching, good water solubility, and exhibit great potential for biological application.

Indicator approach to develop a chemosensor for the colorimetric sensing of thiol-containing water and its application for the thiol detection in plasma.

A strategy for the determination of the presence of thiol-containing amino acids was successfully established by simply assembling copper chloride and xylenol orange (3,3'-bis[N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)aminomethyl]-o-cresolsulfonephthalein trisodium salt; XO) in a 1 : 1 molar ratio in quasi-physiological water solution (pH 6.0). The copper(II)-XO ensemble was highly selective for thiol species such as cysteine, homocysteine, and glutathione without interference from other amino acids and could quantitatively detect thiol in the range from 10 to 200 µM with a linear relationship having an average molar absorbance constant of 6530 L mol(-1) cm(-1) in pure water. The whole recognition process for thiol gave rise to a rapid visual color change from purple-red to yellow which can be observed simultaneously with the naked-eye.

Naked-eye determination of oxalate anion in aqueous solution with copper ion and pyrocatechol violet.

A novel strategy for the determination of oxalate anions was successfully established using a copper ion and pyrocatechol violet (PV) ensemble. The sensor ensemble can discriminate oxalate over other common anions including F(-), Cl(-), I(-), Br(-), HPO(4)(2-), PO(4)(3-), AcO(-), CO(3)(2-), SO(4)(2-), ClO(4)(-), P(2)O(7)(4-), S(2-) (deposited by Ag(+)), CN(-) (shielded by Fe(3+)) and can detect oxalate at low microgram levels in quasi-physiological aqueous solutions. The detection of the oxalate anion gives rise to a rapid observable visual color change from blue to yellow.

Sulfone-Rhodamines: A New Class of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Dyes for Bioimaging.

Given the wavelength dependence of tissue transparency and the requirement for sufficiently low background autofluorescence, the development of fluorescent dyes with excitation and emission maxima beyond 700 nm is highly desired, but it is a challenging task. Herein, a new class of fluorescent dyes, named sulfone-rhodamines (SO2Rs), was developed on the basis of the one-atom replacement of the rhodamine 10-position O atom by a sulfone group. Such a modification makes their absorption and emission maxima surprisingly reach up to 700-710 and 728-752 nm, respectively, much longer than their O-, C-, and Si-rhodamine analogs, due to the unusual d*-π* conjugation. Among these dyes, SO2R4 and SO2R5, bearing disubstituted meso-phenyl groups, show the greatest potentials for bioimaging applications in view of their wide pH range of application, high photostability, and big extinction coefficients and fluorescence quantum yields. They could quickly penetrate cells to give stable NIR fluorescence, even after continuous irradiation by a semiconductor laser, making them suitable candidates for time-lapse and long-term bioimaging applications. Moreover, they could specifically localize in lysosomes independent of alkylmorpholine targeted group, thus avoiding the problematic alkalization effect suffered by most LysoTrackers. Further imaging assays of frozen slices of rat kidney reveal that their tissue imaging depth is suprior to the widely used NIR labeling agent Cy5.5.

A mitochondria-targetable fluorescent probe for peroxynitrite: fast response and high selectivity.

A mitochondria-targetable fluorescence probe, methyl(4-hydroxyphenyl)amino-substituted pyronin (1), was exploited, which could highly selectively sense peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) within seconds.

Fluorescent probe for biological gas SO2 derivatives bisulfite and sulfite.

A coumarin-hemicyanine dye was reported for ratiometric fluorescent detection of SO2 derivatives HSO3(-) and SO3(2-) based on a novel addition-rearrangement cascade reaction.

A fluorescent probe for the biological signaling molecule H2S based on a specific H2S trap group.

A fluorescent turn-on probe for H2S was exploited based on a H2S-induced substitution-cyclization cascade reaction towards the bis-electrophilic centers of a new H2S trap group 2-(iodomethyl)benzoate.

Nitroolefin-based coumarin as a colorimetric and fluorescent dual probe for biothiols.

A coumarin-based thiol probe featuring the 1,4-addition reaction of thiols to nitroolefin was reported. The molecular probe exhibited higher selectivity toward biothiols (Cys, Hcy and GSH) than other amino acids.

Ratiometric fluorescence detection of cyanide based on a hybrid coumarin-hemicyanine dye: the large emission shift and the high selectivity.

A new ratiometric fluorescent cyanide probe was developed based on the nucleophilic attack of CN(-) toward the indolium group of a hybrid coumarin-hemicyanine dye, by which high selectivity as well as large emission shift could be achieved.