Novel Mitochondria-Targeting and Naphthalimide-based Fluorescent Probe for Detecting HClO in Living Cells

As a key reactive oxygen species (ROS), hypochlorous acid (HClO) plays an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. The mitochondria-targeting probes for the highly sensitive detection of HClO are desirable. In present work, we designed and synthesized an original mitochondria-localizing and turn-on fluorescent probe for detecting HClO. 4-Aminonaphthalimide was employed as the fluorescent section, the (2-aminoethyl)-thiourea unit was utilized as a typical sensing unit, and the quaternized pyridinium moiety was used as a mitochondria-targeted localization group. When HClO was absent, the probe showed weak fluorescence. In the existence of HClO, the probe revealed a blue fluorescence. Moreover, the turn-on fluorescent probe was able to function in a broad pH scope. There was an excellent linearity between the fluorescence emission intensity at 488 nm and the concentrations of HClO in the range of 5.0 × 10–7 to 2.5 × 10–6 mol·L–1. Additionally, the probe had almost no cell toxicity and possessed an excellent mitochondria-localizing capability. Furthermore, the probe was able to image HClO in mitochondria of living PC-12 cells. The above remarkable properties illustrated that the probe was able to determine HClO in mitochondria of living cells.