Three Rhodamine-Based “Off–On” Chemosensors with High Selectivity and Sensitivity for Fe3+ Imaging in Living Cells

• DOI: 10.1021/jo202056t
• Publication Date: 2011-12-17T16:04:15Z
• Authors: Zheng Yang; Mengyao She; Bing Yin; Jihong Cui; Yuze Zhang; Wei Sun; Jianli Li; Zhen Shi
• Keywords: Spectrophotometry, Infrared; Nitrogen; Rhodamines; Iron; Ferric Compounds; Sensitivity and Specificity; 01 natural sciences; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical; Molecular Imaging; 0104 chemical sciences; Oxygen; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Humans; Benzothiazoles; Fluorescent Dyes; HeLa Cells

Three new rhodamine-based probes Y1-Y3 were synthesized as "off-on" chemosensors for Fe(3+) imaging in living cells. The recognizing behaviors were investigated both experimentally and computationally. The crystal structure of the complex Y3-Fe(3+) revealed that Fe(3+) preferred to coordinate with the N atom of benzothiazole moiety rather than the O atom of carboxyl group.