Lighting up carbon monoxide in living cells by a readily available and highly sensitive colorimetric and fluorescent probe

Abstract Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important gasotransmitter in living systems. The biological detection of this gasotransmitter is still in its infancy and urgently needs probes. In this paper, a novel fluorescent probe system, which is based on the Pd 0 -mediated Tsuji–Trost reaction, is reported for rapid detection of CO both in in vitro and in living cells. This probe system is readily available and shows excellent sensing properties for CO including rapid and distinct colorimetric and fluorescent turn-on responses, high selectivity and sensitivity with a low detection limit (25 nM) in aqueous solution under mild conditions. In addition, fluorescent imaging of CO in living cells can be conveniently achieved by a low dose of this probe system.