A dicyanoisophorone-based ICT fluorescent probe for the detection of Hg in water/food sample analysis and live cell imaging.

Mercury ions are notoriously difficult to biodegradable, and its abnormal bioaccumulation in the human body through the food chain can cause various diseases. Therefore, the quantitative and real-time detection of Hg is very extremely important. Herein, we have brilliant designed and synthesized (E)-O-(4-(2-(3-(dicyanomethylene)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-1-en-1-yl)vinyl)phenyl) O-phenyl carbonothioate (ICM-Hg) as a selective fluorescent probe for Hg detection in real samples and intracellular staining. ICM-Hg displayed high specificity toward Hg by activating the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process, resulting in distinguished color change from colorless to bright yellow along with noticeable switch on yellow fluorescence emission. The fluorescent intensity of ICM-Hg at 585 nm shows a well linear relationship in the range of Hg concentration (0-45 μM), and the detection of limit for Hg is calculated to be 231 nM. Promisingly, ICM-Hg can efficiently detect Hg in real samples including tap water, tea, shrimp, and crab with quantitative recovery as well as the intracellular fluorescence imaging.