A "turn-on" fluorescent chemosensor for the detection of Zn(II) in aqueous solution at neutral pH and its application in live cells imaging.

Pyridoxal-2-hydrazinopyridine Schiff-base (1) was prepared by one-step synthesis from commercially available materials of pyridoxal and 2-hydrazinopyridine. Compound 1 could be applied as a fluorescent chemosensor for Zn(II) in aqueous solution at pH 7.4. After binding to Zn(II) with a molar ratio of 1:1, 1 exhibited 17-fold fluorescence enhancement. In addition, 1 showed a good selectivity toward Zn(II) over other metal ions, which can especially distinguish Zn(II) from Cd(II). A linear range of 5.0-20.0μmolL(-1) and a detection limit of 70nmolL(-1) were also achieved. Moreover, the utility of chemosensor 1 in bioimaging of Zn(II) in living cells was demonstrated, which suggested that 1 could be used as a Zn(II)-selective chemosensor in biological samples.