A two-photon ratiometric ESIPT probe for the discrimination of different palladium species and its application in bioimaging.

A highly selective ratiometric ESIPT fluorescent probe has been designed for the detection of palladium species of all the typical oxidation states (0, +2, +4). The probe exhibits a ratiometric fluorescence response towards the palladium species in about 20 min at room temperature based on the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. Moreover, the probe can discriminate different palladium species (Pd0, Pd2+, Pd4+) under different detection conditions. Furthermore, the probe can be used to quantitatively detect palladium in drinking water with a low detection limit (15.6 nM, 1.66 ppb). Additionally, it could be used as a two-photon palladium probe for bioimaging with low cytotoxicity and autofluorescence.