Design of new sensitive α,β-unsaturated carbonyl 1,8-naphtalimide fluorescent probes for thiol bioimaging

We report herein an efficient synthesis of news naphtalimide-based fluorescent derivatives functionalized with an a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl group. Probes were synthesized from reaction of an amino-naphtalimide precursor with maleic anhydride. Photophysical study of fluorescent probes and cells labelling were performed, and showed that the reactive derivatives exhibit rich turn on fluorescence properties in presence of different biological thiol (Glutathione and Cysteine) making these systems a very promising way for thiol bioimaging.