Turn-on Phosphorescent Chemodosimeter for Hg²⁺ Based on a Cyclometalated Ir(III) Complex and Its Application in Time-Resolved Luminescence Assays and Live Cell Imaging

Abstract

A novel "turn-on" phosphorescent chemodosimeter based on a cyclometalated Ir(III) complex has been designed and synthesized, which displays high selectivity and sensitivity toward Hg(2+) in aqueous media with a broad pH range of 4-10. Furthermore, by time-resolved photoluminescence techniques, some interferences from the short-lived background fluorescence can be eliminated effectively and the signal-to-noise ratio of the emission detection can be improved distinctly by using the chemodosimeter. Finally, the chemodosimeter can be used to monitor Hg(2+) effectively in living cells by confocal luminescence imaging.

Synthesis and Anticancer Properties of Bis‐ and Mono(cationic peptide) Hybrids of Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complexes: Effect of the Number of Peptide Units on Anticancer Activity

“…Moreover, cyclometalated Ir complexes have shown potent applications as phosphorescence materials, phosphorescent probes for cellular imaging, cancer diagnosis, and the treatment of cancer due to their photophysical properties such as high quantum yields, large Stokes shift, high chemical stabilities, and long emission lifetimes (τ ∼ μs) [12] . These properties have made them ideal applicants for use as biomolecular and cellular agents, as has already been explored in numerous studies concerning chemosensing, [13–17] biolabeling, [18–23] living cell imaging, [24–31] in vivo tumor imaging, [32–35] and as anticancer agents [36–39] …”

Cyclometalated iridium–BODIPY ratiometric O2 sensors

“…ms) lifetimes not found in any other class of molecular phosphor. These attributes of cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes have been outlined in many recent studies [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and have made these compounds prime candidates for a number of optoelectronic applications, including organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) [28][29][30][31] as phosphorescent chemosensors, [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] and singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) sensitizers. [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] Despite their potential advantages, there are comparatively few reports using cyclometalated iridium complexes in ratiometric O 2 sensors.…”

The Discovery of an Iridium(III) Dimer Complex as a Potent Antibacterial Agent against Non-Replicating Mycobacterium smegmatis

“…The iridium complexes 1 [21], 2 [22] and 3 [23] were synthesized according to the published procedures. 1 H-NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker Advance (400 MHz) (Bruker, Karlsruhe, Germany) at ambient temperature, and were consistent with the respective reported literature.…”