A novel naphthalimide-based probe for ultrafast, highly selective and sensitive detection of formaldehyde

Formaldehyde (FA), a carcinogenic potential toxic aldehyde, has attracted more and more attention in the domain of science. Less dose of FA can cause pain, emesia, somnolence and stupor, and uptake of large amounts of FA can cause death. To make sure that remains FA has no detrimental on human health, it is pivotal to control the FA level via early detection. Hence, to develop a rapid, sensitive and selective method for detection of sulfites is of great importance. Herein, a novel PET-based fluorescent probe MPAD with ultrafast detection time (6 min) and ultralow detection limit (20 nM) for formaldehyde (FA) detection was developed. Then, the test paper for point of care detection of FA was demonstrated. Furthermore, the probe was successfully applied for detection in living system. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.