Coumarin-based fluorescent chemosensor for the selective quantification of Zn2+ and AcO- in an aqueous solution and living cells

Abstract In this work, we report a novel fluorescence chemosensor HM based on the coumarin fluorophore for the quantification of Zn 2+ and AcO − . HM specifically binds to Zn 2+ in the presence of other competing cations, and evident changes in UV–vis and fluorescence spectra in HEPES buffer are noticed. The in situ generated HM -Zn 2+ complex solution exhibit a high selectivity toward AcO − via Zn 2+ displacement approach. The detection limits of HM for Zn 2+ and HM -Zn 2+ for AcO − were estimated to be 7.24 × 10 −8  M and 9.41 × 10 −8  M, respectively. HM and the resultant complex HM -Zn 2+ exhibit low cytotoxicity and cell-membrane permeability, which makes them capable of Zn 2+ and AcO − imaging in living Hep G2 cells. A B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) basis set was employed for optimization of HM and HM -Zn 2+ complex.