A naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe with a benzoylthiourea trigger for detection of Hg(II) in cosmetics

Cosmetics are an indispensable necessity in human daily life, showcasing significant effects in whitening, immune regulation, collagen repair, promotion of skin microcirculation, and delaying cell aging. Long-term use of whitening cosmetics containing mercury ions can cause inevitable harm to the human body, especially to the developing nervous system. Therefore, it is highly significant to develop an efficient and convenient tool for detecting mercury ions at home. Herein, a fluorescent probe (NAPTPA-ITC) has been designed and synthesized for detecting mercury ions in real samples with high selectivity and sensitivity. As expected, NAPTPA-ITC demonstrated outstanding capabilities for detecting Hg2+ with a rapid response time (<1.5 min), as well as high selectivity and sensitivity (LOD = 0.46 nM), high quantum yields of NAPTPA-ITC resultant product (0.3515) and its resultant product. Remarkably, NAPTPA-ITC was successfully applied to detect mercury ions in real whitening cosmetics. All the results indicate that the new fluorescence probe NAPTPA-ITC holds significant potential for widespread application in the home detection of mercury ions.