A novel colorimetric and fluorescent iminocoumarin-based chemosensor for acetate ion and its application to living cell imaging.

A novel colorimetric and fluorescent iminocoumarin-based turn-off chemosensor for acetate ion was designed and synthesized. The chemosensor could fast detect acetate ion in a 1:1 ratio within 150 ms, which could not be affected by various coexisting anions, even F(-). Futher studies showed that the detect limit was as low as 2.05×10(-7) M, and the binding constant was determined to be 1.02×10(8) M(-1). Due to these unique properties, the chemosensor showed potential application in intracellular imaging.