A novel lipid droplets-targeting fluorescent probe based on dicyanisophorone and carbazole for Cu2+ and its application

A novel fluorescent probe, LCH, based on dicyanisophorone and carbazole, was prepared for the visual detection of Cu2+. The probe LCH could recognize Cu2+ by fluorescence quenching in EtOH/H2O (1/4, v/v) solution, which could be easily identified under the 365 nm UV lamp, and the detection limit was as low as 0.785 mu M. The recognition mechanism of probe LCH with Cu2+ was determined by combining H-1 NMR titration, MS, and theoretical calculations. Practical application experiments showed that probe LCH could be used to detect Cu2+ in the test strip experiments. Cell imaging experiments showed that the probe LCH owned good cell permeability and could be applied to the imaging of Cu2+ in HepG2 cells. In addition, fluorescence colocalization experiments showed that LCH could target lipid droplets. These results indicate that the probe LCH will have a good application prospect in environmental detection and clinical medicine.