1,8-Naphthalimide-based fluorescent sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity for Zn2+ and its imaging in living cells

A novel 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent sensor with iminodiacetic acid as receptor, was developed and applied successfully to image Zn2+ in living cells. Under physiological pH conditions, it demonstrates high selectivity and sensitivity for sensing Zn2+ with about 34-fold enhancement in aqueous solution, with a characteristic emission band of 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide with a green color centered at 550 nm.