Fluorescein-based fluorescent sensor with high selectivity for mercury and its imaging in living cells

Abstract A novel fluorescein-based fluorescent Hg 2+ sensor (Sensor-Hg) with N- E thylthioethyl-N-[N′,N′-(2′- D iethylthioethylamino)-5′-methyl- P henoxyethyl]-2- M ethoxy A niline (EDPMA) as receptor, was developed and applied successfully to image Hg 2+ in living cells. It demonstrates high selectivity and sensitivity for sensing Hg 2+ with about 51-fold enhancement in aqueous solution, with a characteristic emission band of fluorescein at 539 nm.