A highly selective dual-channel fluorescent probe for the detection of Zn2+ ion and pyrophosphate in micelle

We presented a micellar probe 1 as a highly selective dual-channel fluorescent probe for Zn2+ and pyrophosphate (PPi) ions. Probe 1 was comprised of tetraphenylethene (TPE) as an AIEgen and naphthalimide-dipicolylamine (DPA) scaffold as a Zn2+-chelating fluorescent reporter, and it was developed as a micellar 1 in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The micellar probe 1 showed a blue fluorescence at 482 nm ascribed to the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of TPE moiety. However, in the presence of Zn2+ ion, the micellar probe exhibited a strong green fluorescence at 530 nm by a suppression of photo-induced electron transfer (PET) occurring from DPA to naphthalimide. This fluorescence enhancement was found to be highly selective for Zn2+ ion over other metal ions. In addition, the Zn2+-chelated probe 1 in micelle displayed a selective ratiometric change in fluorescence intensities at 530 and 450 nm for PPi over other anions. The detection limits (LOD) of 1 to Zn2+ and PPi also turned out to be at 46 and 88 nM, respectively.