A new colorimetric and ratiometric probe for highly selective recognition and bioimaging of ClO and Al.

In this study, a new fluorescence probe HMAQ based on quinazoline and diaminomaleonitrile was constructed for sensing ClO and Al. A fluorescence blue-shift with 102 nm together with a color change from golden-yellow to colorless was found by hypochlorite-induced hydrolysis of -CH=N- group to release the initial fluorophore. Besides, Al could cause a 72-nm blue-shifted emission spectra and a color change from golden-yellow to brown. As expected, HMAQ exhibited a satisfactory selectivity and sensitivity to ClO/Al with a quick response. Most notably, the reversibility of the [HMAQ+Al] complex could be used to detect ClO and Al simultaneously without mutual interferences. The detection limits of HMAQ for ClO and Al were turned out to be 10.2 nM and 1.56 nM, respectively. The high-performance results of real-time detections demonstrated the enormous potential of HMAQ in real-water samples and living cells.