Fluorescein-functionalized silica nanoparticles as a selective fluorogenic chemosensor for Cu²⁺ in living cells

Fluorescein-functionalized silica nanoparticles (1) were prepared by sol-gel reaction, and their optical sensing abilities were studied towards finding a new type of synthetic fluorogenic chemosensor for imaging Cu ²⁺ ions in living cells. Interestingly, upon addition of Cu ²⁺ in a H₂O suspension of 1 at pH 7.4, 1 displays large chelation-enhanced quenching (CHBQ) effects with Cu²⁺. With the exception of Cu²⁺, no significant fluorescence intensity changes were observed in the experiments with the other metal ions. These findings confirm that 1 can be useful as a fluorogenic-sensing material for the selective detection of Cu²⁺ in the presence of other metal ions. This is a rare example of chromogenic sensing of a specific metal ion by functional inorganic nanomaterials. The emission change observed for chemosensor 1 in the presence of Cu²⁺ is reversible by the addition of EDTA. Furthermore, the fluorescein-functionalized silica nanoparticles act as a new type of synthetic fluorogenic chemosensor for imaging Cu²⁺ ions in living cells.