A new colorimetric and ratiometric probe for highly selective recognition and bioimaging of ClO− and Al3+

Abstract In this study, a new fluorescence probe HMAQ based on quinazoline and diaminomaleonitrile was constructed for sensing ClO− and Al3+. A fluorescence blue-shift with 102 nm together with a color change from golden-yellow to colorless was found by hypochlorite-induced hydrolysis of –CH=N- group to release the initial fluorophore. Besides, Al3+ could cause a 72-nm blue-shifted emission spectra and a color change from golden-yellow to brown. As expected, HMAQ exhibited a satisfactory selectivity and sensitivity to ClO−/Al3+ with a quick response. Most notably, the reversibility of the [HMAQ+Al3+] complex could be used to detect ClO− and Al3+ simultaneously without mutual interferences. The detection limits of HMAQ for ClO− and Al3+ were turned out to be 10.2 nM and 1.56 nM, respectively. The high-performance results of real-time detections demonstrated the enormous potential of HMAQ in real-water samples and living cells.