A rapid and highly selective purine-based fluorescent probe for hypochlorite detection with cellular applications

Hypochlorite (ClO-) is a significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) involved in various human diseases, while also playing a crucial role in immune defense mechanism. Thus, the development of an effective method for detecting ClO- in mammalian cells is of great importance. In this study, we present the synthesis of a novel purine-based fluorescent probe, ANBM, specifically designed for the selective detection of ClO-. The ANBM exhibits remarkable sensitivity, with a low detection limit of 0.78 mu M, and demonstrates high selectivity for ClO- in the presence of various interfering species. Additionally, the probe features a large Stokes shift of 130 nm and enables rapid detection of ClO- within less than two seconds. The detection mechanism was thoroughly validated using H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, ESI-MS, FT-IR and fluorescence spectra. Moreover, the applicability of ANBM was successfully demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo settings using HeLa cells, confirming its potential as a powerful tool for monitoring ClO- in biological systems.