A novel turn on fluorescent probe based on a hybrid carbazole-cyanine platform was designed and synthesized for detecting hydroxyl radicals in living cells.
The CCy-OH probe had exhibited ideal properties including fast response (0.5 min), good selectivity, and low cytotoxicity.
Almost 60-fold fluorescence enhancement was obtained when the probe was treated with y_pxl.gif" class="glyphImg imgLazyJSB">OH in solution with excitation at 510 nm and emission at 604 nm.
Fluorescence imaging shows that the novel CCy-OH probe is membrane-permeable and suitable for detecting endogenous hydroxyl radicals in living cells.