A new mechanism-based fluorescent probe for the detection of ClO− by UV–vis and fluorescent spectra and its applications

A new 1,8-naphthalimide-based derivative was developed and synthesized as a fluorescent probe 1 for the detection of hypochlorite. The probe 1 which exhibited no fluorescent respond to hypochlorite through a dramatic enhancement (∼140 fold) of its fluorescence intensity with the fluorescence quantum yield increased from 0.0008 to 0.112. Additionally, this probe had quick response time and low detection limit for hypochlorite. The new oxidative mechanism of probe 1 for determining ClO− was confirmed by NMR and MS methods In addition, the probe 1 was successfully applied to detect ClO− in tap water and river water samples by spiking a known amount of standard ClO−. More importantly, the practical ability of probe 1 to detect hypochlorite within living A549 cells was confirmed by fluorescence imaging technique.