A sensitive and selective fluorescent probe for detection of glutathione in the presence of Cu2+ and its application to biological imaging

A selective and sensitive method to detect glutathione (GSH) based on the complex of a coumarin-based probe and Cu2+ is reported. In response to GSH, the system provides remarkable fluorescence intensity change with the color change from colorless to yellow, and the detect limit is determined to be 3.6 × 10−7 M. The background amino acids show small or no interference on the detection of GSH. Moreover, this probe could be applied to detect GSH via intracellular fluorescent imaging.