A rhodamine B-based turn on fluorescent probe for selective recognition of mercury(II) ions

Abstract The recognition of mercury(II) ions content in the environment and organisms is of great significance for maintaining the health of the organism and preventing diseases induced by mercury(II) ions. Herein a fluorescent probe which includes rhodamine B and acenaphtho[1,2-b]quinoxaline-9-amin has been designed and synthesized for recognizing mercury(II) ions. The structure of RB-AQ was confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HR-MS analyses and single X-ray crystallography. The fluorescent probe RB-AQ exhibited an obvious “turn-on” fluorescence enhancement for mercury(II) ions at 586 nm. RB-AQ showed good recognization capability and selectivity toward mercury(II) ions over other interfering metal ions in solution. Further, the probe has mercury(II) ions imaging capability in cells and zebrafish.