Novel selective fluorescent probes for sensing Zn2+ ions based on a coumarin Schiff-base

Two Zn2+ ion fluorescent probes based on a coumarin Schiff-base were designed and synthesized, which have highly selective sensing of Zn2+ ions over other metal ions in aqueous solution based on a CN isomerization mechanism. Both the X-ray crystal structure of the zinc complex and the Job’s plots showed a 1:1 probe-Zn2+ ion identification with high selectivity and sensitivity. The Cp1 probe was also used to image intracellular Zn2+ ions in MCF-7 cells with a good performance.