A multifunctional naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe for visual detection, environmental monitoring, and biosensing of formaldehyde.

Abstract

Due to the role of formaldehyde (FA) in environmental pollutants and as an important intracellular signaling molecule, there is a pressing need to come up with highly sensitive and selective detection methods that can be applied to diverse fields. In this case, we have rationally developed and synthesized a new naphthalimide fluorescent probe Np-FA that is designed and customized to multi-scenario FA sensing. Probe Np-FA has good selectivity, very sensitive sensing capability and responds quickly (less than 10 s). The suggested sensing mechanism was verified through density functional theory (DFT) calculations and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analysis. Leveraging its impressive performance, probe Np-FA was effectively made into portable test strips and fluorescent sensing films to visually detect gaseous FA and aqueous FA, respectively. Moreover, Np-FA was also used successfully to measure trace FA in actual water samples. The probe has great biocompatibility and it can be used in real time fluorescence imaging of both endogenous and exogenous FA within living cells. It is important to note that Np-FA proved useful to monitor dynamic changes in FA concentrations in a drug-induced model of hepatotoxicity and therefore, it has a good potential to investigate the functions of FA in physiological and pathological states. The probe created in this work is highly versatile and trustworthy, and its application prospects are very promising, starting with environmental surveillance, and ending with sophisticated biological systems.