Title Purine-based chemical probe with HOMO switching for intracellular detection of mercury ions
Authors Boguševičienė, Kamilė ; Jovaišaitė, Justina ; Jonušauskas, Gediminas ; Kreiza, Gediminas ; Burcevs, Aleksejs ; Kapilinskis, Zigfrīds ; Novosjolova, Irina ; Turks, Maris ; Hean, Li Er ; Chu, Han-Wei ; Chang, Huang-Tsung ; Juršėnas, Saulius Antanas
DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-15262-8
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Is Part of Scientific reports.. Springer Nature. 2025, vol. 15, iss. 1, art. no. 34172, p. [1-13].. eISSN 2045-2322
Keywords [eng] chemical probe ; HOMO switching ; mercury ion imaging ; mercury ion sensing ; purine ; “turn-off” fluorescence
Abstract [eng] The detailed photophysical characterization of 2-piperidinyl-6-triazolylpurine derivatives and their complexes with metal ions is presented. The studied compounds contain two electron donating units – piperidine and methoxyphenyl, while triazolyl-purine acts as an electron acceptor. These derivatives possess good fluorescence quantum yields in both aprotic and aqueous environments. All piperidine-triazole-purine compounds exhibited a fluorescence “turn-off” sensing behavior to different metal ions, including Hg2+. We are discussing the changes in photophysical properties occurring upon complexation including switching between highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) of different electron donating units and the entire electron charge shift possibility in the complex with mercury ion. The sensing concept was further applied for newly synthesized water-soluble compounds, that demonstrated better selectivity toward Hg2+ in aqueous media. Further, the selected 2-piperidinyl-6-triazolylpurine water-soluble derivative was employed as a “turn-off” chemical probe for mercury ion detection in living cells.
Published Springer Nature
Type Journal article
Language English
Publication date 2025
CC license CC license description