Ubiquinone-rhodol (UQ-Rh) for fluorescence imaging of NAD(P)H through intracellular activation.

The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) derivatives NADH and NADPH are critical components of cellular energy metabolism and operate as electron carriers. A novel fluorescent ubiquinone-rhodol derivative (UQ-Rh) was developed as a probe for NAD(P)H. By using the artificial promoter [(η(5) -C5 Me5 )Ir(phen)(H2 O)](2+) , intracellular activation and imaging of NAD(P)H were successfully demonstrated. In contrast to bioorthogonal chemistry, this "bioparallel chemistry" approach involves interactions with native biological processes and could potentially be used to control or investigate cellular systems.