A bifunctional coumarin/phenanthridine-fused probe for the detection of mitochondrial peroxynitrite in live cells, Arabidopsis thaliana, zebrafish, and mice

Aberrant peroxynitrite (ONOO − ) may damage a wide array of biomolecules, causing cellular dysfunctions that are closely associated with multiple oxidative stress-related diseases. Therefore, detecting ONOO − levels in physiological and pathological processes is of great significance. With this research, a coumarin/phenanthridine-fused probe 1 was synthesized in high yield, that exhibited high selectivity toward ONOO − for both fluorescence and UV–vis channels in DMSO/HEPES ( v/v, 4/6, pH=7.4) solution. The probe exhibited a near-infrared (NIR) emission at 710 nm with a large Stokes shift of 200 nm, which was selectively quenched by adding ONOO − . The probe was used to track ONOO − in live cells, Arabidopsis thaliana, zebrafish, and mice. • A coumarin/phenanthridine-based probe has been developed for the detection of ONOO-. • The NIR “turn-off” probe for ONOO - exhibited a large Stokes shift. • ONOO - was imaged in the mitochondria of HeLa cells, zebrafish, mice, and Arabidopsis thaliana.