title: Developing red-emissive ruthenium(II) complex-based luminescent probes for cellular imaging.
abstract: Ruthenium(II) complexes have rich photophysical attributes, which enable novel design of responsive luminescence probes to selectively quantify biochemical analytes. In this work, we developed a systematic series of Ru(II)-bipyrindine complex derivatives, [Ru(bpy)(3-n)(DNP-bpy)(n)](PF(6))(2) (n = 1, 2, 3; bpy, 2,2'-bipyridine; DNP-bpy, 4-(4-(2,4-dinitrophenoxy)phenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine), as luminescent probes for highly selective and sensitive detection of thiophenol in aqueous solutions. The specific reaction between the probes and thiophenol triggers the cleavage of the electron acceptor group, 2,4-dinitrophenyl, eliminating the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process, so that the luminescence of on-state complexes, [Ru(bpy)(3-n)(HP-bpy)(n)](2+) (n = 1, 2, 3; HP-bpy, 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine), is turned on. We found that the complex [Ru(bpy)(DNP-bpy)(2)](2+) remarkably enhanced the on-to-off contrast ratio compared to the other two (37.8 compared to 21 and 18.7). This reveals a new strategy to obtain the best Ru(II) complex luminescence probe via the most asymmetric structure. Moreover, we demonstrated the practical utility of the complex as a cell-membrane permeable probe for quantitative luminescence imaging of the dynamic intracellular process of thiophenol in living cells. The results suggest that the new probe could be a very useful tool for luminescence imaging analysis of the toxic thiophenol in intact cells.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, PR China.
authors.forename: Run
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Yuejiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Guilan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dayong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Jingli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Piper
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival; D003116:Color; D015195:Drug Design; D004579:Electron Transport; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D049408:Luminescent Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism; D012428:Ruthenium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D049408:Luminescent Agents; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010636:Phenols; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; C042983:thiophenol; D012428:Ruthenium