A fluorescent sensor-based tripodal-Bodipy for Cu (II) ions: bio-imaging on cells

Abstract

A general synthetic method was improved to synthesize a chemosensor based on a tripodal Bodipy (t-BODIPY) structure. The product and its intermediate products were successfully prepared and fully characterized. The metal ion sensing performance of the tripodal compound was evaluated by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. According to the obtained data, t-BODIPY is a selective and sensitive fluorescence probe for detection of $Cu^{2+}$ ions in the presence and in the absence of competing ions. This chemosensor presents relatively a low detection limit of $5.4 x10^{–7} M for Cu^{2+}$. Bio-imaging studies on living yeast cells suggest that tBODIPY has some advantages over other chemosensors to recognize copper (II) ions.