The synthesis of fluorescent probes for the metal ion detection

Fluorescent probes generally consisting of a fluorophore and a recognition part can detect and label various substances through the changes of fluorescence properties before and after recognition. In this work, we synthesized a new monomer using the heck coupling reaction, and the polymeric fluorescent probes were prepared via free radical polymerization with two structurally similar monomers. The effects of molecular structures on the luminescent properties (intensity and lifetime) were explored systematically. Ten metal ions were screened at their optimal excitation wavelengths to figure out their corresponding specific recognition ions through the change of fluorescence color and fluorescence signals, and it was found that the fluorescence probes and the ions showed a good linear relationship within a detective concentration range and could also be calculated by the limit of detection formula to reach a lower detect limit (LOD, 0.0027 μM) than before (0.12 μM). Then the potential biological application of the polymers was investigated, and it suggested that fluorescent probes have potential application in sensor devices and bioimaging.