A novel colorimetric and near-infrared fluorescence probe for detecting and imaging exogenous and endogenous hydrogen peroxide in living cells

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an important member of the family of reactive oxygen species (ROS), has a significant impact on cell signal transduction, energy conversion and immune responses of living organisms. Therefore, accurate detection of the content of H2O2 in living cells is of vital importance. In this paper, we report on the synthesis of a novel colorimetric and near-infrared fluorescent probe HAA, a heterocyclic aromatic amine with acetyl group for the specific detection of both exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in living cells. Our results show that the probe not only possesses high specificity and sensitivity, but also has advantages of low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility. Theoretical computations elucidated the luminescence and quenching mechanism of HAA in the absence and presence of H2O2. In addition, HAA was applied to the determination of H2O2 in human serum and the imaging of endogenous H2O2 in living cells, during which it demonstrated excellent performance and good potential for future bioanalysis applications.