Phosphorescent iridium(III) complex for efficient sensing of hypochlorite and imaging in living cells.

In consideration of the strong oxidizing power of hypochlorite (ClO-), which could cleave CN moiety, a cyclometalated iridium (III) complex (Ir-Ts) modified hydrazide group as the response unit was synthesized to sensitively and selectively detect ClO- under neutral condition. Upon addition of ClO-, a 21-fold emission enhancement at 574 nm was observed and phosphorescent product was formed due to the cleavage of CN moiety. The probe Ir-Ts displayed rapid response (<15 s) and high selectivity toward ClO- with a low detection limit of 86 nM. More importantly, bioimaging of ClO- was further studied in living cells.

A coumarin-based fluorescent probe for hypochlorite ion detection in environmental water samples and living cells.

In this study, we developed a new fluorescent probe (CMM) based on coumarin dye and malononitrile, for highly sensitive and selective detection of hypochlorite ion (ClO-). CMM showed a 45-fold fluorescence enhancement at 459 nm in the presence of ClO- and displayed an excellent selectivity over other competing species. The probe featured a fast response time (<15 s), which could be in favor of the real-time detection towards ClO-. Meanwhile, probe CMM could effectively monitor ClO- in physiological pH condition and the detection limit was estimated to be as low as 5.7 nM. Furthermore, its preeminent recognition properties made the successful application for monitoring ClO- in environmental water samples and labeling ClO- in living biological cells.

A cyclometalated iridium(III) complex-based fluorescence probe for hypochlorite detection and its application by test strips.

A new cyclometalated iridium(III) complex-based fluorescence probe (IrCN) for hypochlorite (ClO-) has been synthesized and characterized. The probe displayed nonfluorescent around 577 nm, while a 54-fold enhancement in fluorescence emission intensity was observed after the addition of ClO- due to the removal of C=N isomerization effect. Such "turn-on" fluorescence probe worked excellently in wide pH range (5-12) with short response time (<20 s) and the detection limit was as low as 0.11 µM. In addition, IrCN exhibited high selectivity towards ClO- even in the presence of other competing species. Furthermore, IrCN was successfully integrated in fluorescent test strips for real-time detection of ClO-.