Rhodol-based fluorescent probes for the detection of fluoride ion and its application in water, tea and live animal imaging

Herein, we presented two novel turn-on colorimetric and fluorescent probes based on a F- triggered Si-O bond cleavage reaction, which displayed several desired properties for the quantitative detection for F-, such as high specificity, rapid response time (within 3 min) and naked-eye visualization. The fluorescence intensity at 574 nm (absorbance at 544 nm) of the solution was found to increase linearly with the concentration of F- (0.00-30.0 mu M) with the detection limit was estimated to be 0.47 mu M/0.48 mu M. Based on these excellent optical properties, the probes were employed to monitor F- in real water samples and tea samples with satisfactory. Furthermore, it was successfully applied for fluorescent imaging of F- in living nude mice, suggesting that it could be used as a powerful tool to predict and explore the biological functions of F- in physiological and pathological processes. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.