Red-emitting fluorescent probe for discrimination of Cys/Hcy and GSH with a large Stokes shift under a single-wavelength excitation

In this work, we based on an iminocoumarin borate complex to design and synthesize a red-emitting fluorescent probe, THQ-BF2-O-NBD, to discriminatively detect Cys/Hcy and GSH with a large Stokes shift (100 nm). This probe responded to GSH to display red fluorescence with λmax = 630 nm. In contrast, two well-separated emission bands with λmax = 565 and 630 nm were observed in the solution of THQ-BF2-O-NBD with Cys/Hcy. The probe was capable to distinguish Cys/Hcy from GSH in real biological systems.