4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent Cd2+ sensor with high selectivity against Zn2+ and its imaging in living cells

Abstract A novel 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent Cd 2+ sensor with phenyliminoethoxy-ethoxyoxyacetic acid as receptor, was developed and applied successfully to image Cd 2+ in living cells. It demonstrates high selectivity and sensitivity for sensing Cd 2+ with about 24-fold enhancement in aqueous solution. Particularly, it is high selectivity against Zn 2+ .