MOLECULAR PROBES FOR THE DETECTION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES

Abstract

Design and synthesis of new organoselenium compounds and molecularly engineered quantum dots (QDs) for the detection of ROS were discussed. Firstly, a serious of organoselenium probes are included, namely selenium blue-a and -ß, benzoxazole selenium, selenium green and selenium-Nile red. Rapid oxidation of non-fluorescent selenium blue-a by hypochlorite turns on blue fluorescence through a Se-C bond cleavage. Benzoxazole selenium probe also shows good reactivity and selectivity to ROS that is promising for visualizing oxidative stress in biological systems. Secondly, molecular modified QDs with dimethylhomoocoerdianthrone (HOCD) show good selectivity towards singlet oxygen among various ROS. Thirdly, in an attempt to functionalize the singlet oxygen reactive dye HOCD, a novel addition reaction of amines to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon was observed and studied. This amination reaction of C(sp2)-H occurs under mild conditions without the need of any transition metal catalysts that provided a new and simple method for the synthesis of NIR molecular probes.