A lysosome-targetable fluorescent probe for the ratiometric detection of formaldehyde in living cells and in vivo.

Inspired by the synthetic method of benzoxazine derivatives and our previous research, a fluorescent probe (SWJT-6) was designed for formaldehyde (FA) detection based on the cyclization reaction. The synthetic SWJT-6 showed excellent colorimetric and ratiometric response to formaldehyde, and could be perfectly used as test strips to detect formaldehyde. It also showed a fast detection time (3 min), low detection limit (5.65 µM) and high selectivity for formaldehyde within various interfering analytes. In addition, SWJT-6 has been successfully applied in bioimaging of intracellular and lysosomal formaldehyde in both HeLa cells and zebrafish.