A NIR fluorescent probe for the in vitro and in vivo selective detection of hydrogen peroxide

In this study, we report the construction of a turn-on fluorescent probe, TMN-H2O2 with near-infrared emission for H2O2 detection in living systems. A series of experiments demonstrated that TMN-H2O2 exhibits a high selectivity for H2O2. After reaction with H2O2, TMN-H2O2 exhibited a 14.3-fold increase in fluorescence intensity at 660 nm and a 180 nm large Stokes shift. Moreover, TMN-H2O2 exhibited excellent sensitivity (limit of detection: 76 nM) and a fast response time (~40 min). The successful in vitro and in vivo application of TMN-H2O2 therefore suggested that this probe is a reliable chemical tool for monitoring both endogenous and exogenous H2O2.