Fluorogenic imines for fluorescent detection of Mannich-type reactions of phenols in water.

Fluorogenic imines and their precursor amines that can be used for fluorescent visualization of Mannich-type reactions of phenols in aqueous buffers have been developed. The precursor amines are aniline derivatives that are covalently conjugated to fluorophores. These amines and their imine derivatives were nonfluorescent or very weakly fluorescent. On the other hand, addition products of the imines to phenols showed more than 100-fold higher fluorescence than the imines and the precursor amines.