Fluorescence enhancement of near infrared cell membrane probe by β-cyclodextrin supramolecular interaction

In this paper, oxazolepyridine and coumarin units were combined to prepare cell membrane fluorescent probe ( PM-A ) through aldol condensation reaction . PM-A had long wavelength emission (665–739 nm), high molar extinction coefficient (around 3.14 × 10 4 M −1 cm −1 ) and large Stokes shift (150–219 nm). The photo-stability test showed that PM-A had a high relative residual absorption (93%) after 6 h of continuous illumination. In addition, the supramolecular interaction between PM-A and β-cyclodextrin was evaluated and applied to cell imaging . Probe PM-A had no fluorescence in water, but had obvious fluorescence signal in β-cyclodextrin solution. With the addition of β-cyclodextrin (0–800 eq), the fluorescence quantum yield of PM-A increased from 0% to 45%. Laser confocal experiments showed that when only PM-A was added, the probe concentration needed to be 15 μM to image the cell membrane obviously. In sharp contrast, with the help of β-cyclodextrin solution, the concentration of probe PM-A only needed 0.5 μM to quick and high specificity image cell membranes. Moreover, PM-A had high photo-bleaching resistance and long retention time after adding β-cyclodextrin. These excellent properties of PM-A were of great significance to the study of cell membrane. • A near-infrared fluorescent probe ( PM-A ) with oxazolepyridine and coumarin units was prepared for the imaging of cell membrane at 15 μM. • The supramolecular interaction between probe PM-A and β-cyclodextrin was evaluated. • Probe PM-A showed rapid and high specificity of cell membrane imaging at the concentration of 0.5 μM with the help of β-cyclodextrin.