Dual-function fluorescent probe with red emission for sensing viscosity and OCl− and its applications in bioimaging

Abstract The microenvironment in biological systems is associated with pathological of organisms. In this work, HBTC, a red-emitting probe with abilities of responding to OCl− and environmental viscosity was designed and synthesized to preliminary apply in cell imaging. HBTC showed weak fluorescence in the dissolved state due to intramolecular rotation, and it showed about 620 nm red light emission when molecules are restricted. Through red-to-turquoise ratiometric fluorescence signal, HBTC showed the capacity to selective detecte OCl−, and the LOD was calculated to be 0.141 μM in OCl− concentration range of 2–20 μM. Finally, HBTC was used for preliminary cell fluorescence imaging. It is expected that HBTC will be used to study the diseases related between OCl− concentration and viscosity in cells.