A Fluorescent Probe for Hg Specific Recognition Based on Xanthene and its Application in Food Detection and Cell Imaging.

The mercury-loving unit aminothiourea was introduced into the xanthene fluorophore to synthesized the probe molecule NXH. NXH has a specific response to Hg, and with the addition of (0 ~ 50 µM) Hg, the fluorescence intensity of the probe solution was quenched from 2352 a.u. to about 308 a.u. NXH exhibited excellent detection performance of high sensitivity (LOD = 96.3 nM), real-time response (105 s), wide pH range (2.1 ~ 9.3), and strong anti-interference ability for Hg. At the same time, NXH has wide range of applications for Hg detection, which can fluorescence imaging of Hg in Hela cells and tea samples, and can also be made into Hg detection test paper.