Key Laboratory of Xin'an Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230038, China.
Key Laboratory of Xin'an Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230038, China; Anhui Biochem Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Taihe, 236699, China; Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2025 Jan 5;324:124983. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.124983. Epub 2024 Aug 13.
Mercury ion (Hg), a heavy metal cation with greater toxicity, is widely present in the ecological environment and has become a serious threat to human health and environmental safety. Currently, developing a solution to simultaneously visualize and monitor Hg in environmental samples, including water, soil, and plants, remains a great challenge. In this work, we created and synthesized a near-infrared fluorescent probe, BBN-Hg, and utilized Hg to trigger the partial cleavage of the carbon sulfate ester in BBN-Hg as a sensing mechanism, and the fluorescence intensity of BBN-Hg was significantly enhanced at 650 nm, thus realizing the visualization of Hg with good selectivity (detection limit, 53 nM). In live cells and zebrafish, the probe BBN-Hg enhances the red fluorescence signal in the presence of Hg, and successfully performs 3D imaging on zebrafish, making it a powerful tool for detecting Hg in living systems. More importantly, with BBN-Hg, we are able to detect Hg in actual water samples, soil and plant seedling roots. Furthermore, the probe was prepared as a test strip for on-site determination of Hg with the assistance of a smartphone. Therefore, this study offers an easy-to-use and useful method for tracking Hg levels in living organisms and their surroundings.
汞离子（Hg）是一种毒性较大的重金属阳离子，广泛存在于生态环境中，对人类健康和环境安全构成了严重威胁。目前，开发一种同时可视化和监测环境样品（包括水、土壤和植物）中 Hg 的解决方案仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这项工作中，我们设计并合成了一种近红外荧光探针 BBN-Hg，并利用 Hg 触发 BBN-Hg 中碳硫酸酯的部分裂解作为传感机制，BBN-Hg 的荧光强度在 650nm 处显著增强，从而实现了 Hg 的可视化，具有良好的选择性（检测限为 53nM）。在活细胞和斑马鱼中，探针 BBN-Hg 在存在 Hg 的情况下增强了红色荧光信号，并成功对斑马鱼进行了 3D 成像，使其成为检测活体系中 Hg 的有力工具。更重要的是，我们使用 BBN-Hg 可以检测实际水样、土壤和植物幼苗根中的 Hg。此外，该探针在智能手机的协助下被制备成用于现场测定 Hg 的测试条。因此，这项研究为跟踪生物体内及其周围 Hg 水平提供了一种简单易用且实用的方法。
