Fluorescent Wittig reagent as a novel ratiometric probe for the quantification of 5-formyluracil and its application in cell imaging.

The chemically selective detection of natural nucleobase modifications has been regarded as the key step in understanding their important roles in epigenetics. Herein, for the first time, we introduce a Wittig reaction into the design of reaction-based fluorescent probes for ratiometrically detecting 5fU, selectively labelling 5fU-modified DNA and imaging intracellular 5fU produced by γ-irradiation.