An AIE probe for simultaneous monitoring of endogenous and exogenous hypochlorite and Zn2+ at dual channels in living cells†

Abstract

Zn²⁺ and ClO⁻ may be associated with a variety of pathologies, and their simultaneous measurement is crucial for disease diagnosis and environmental protection. In this work, we synthesized an independent AIE probe, HNTE, through a one step reaction. The probe HNTE displayed a distinctive fluorescence color change from deep yellow to blue for ClO⁻ and to green for Zn²⁺. More importantly, the probe HNTE could simultaneously detect endogenous and exogenous ClO⁻ and Zn²⁺ in living cells colorimetrically via the blue and green channels.