Ji-Ting Hou

Iron-catalyzed direct amination of azoles using formamides or amines as nitrogen sources in air

A new iron-catalyzed, direct C-H amination of azoles at C2 has been developed by using formamides or amines as nitrogen sources. Imidazole is the only additive in the catalyst system and oxygen in air is employed during the transformation process.

A coumarin-based chromogenic and ratiometric probe for hydrazine

A coumarin-based chromogenic and ratiometric probe for hydrazine was presented, which could selectively detect hydrazine via an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism with a red-shift of 21 nm. Importantly, the probe could selectively detect hydrazine over other primary amines.

Two birds with one stone: multifunctional and highly selective fluorescent probe for distinguishing Zn2+ from Cd2+ and selective recognition of sulfide anion.

A coumarin-based multifunctional fluorescent sensor containing a di-2-picolylamine (DPA) moiety (1) was presented. Interestingly, this probe could similarly act as ON-OFF type fluorescent sensor for Co(2+) and Cu(2+), then in situ generated 1-Co(II) and 1-Cu(II) ensembles could further serve as OFF-ON type fluorescent sensors to achieve the discrimination of Zn(2+) from Cd(2+) and selective recognition of sulfide anion in aqueous solution via displacement approach, respectively. Specially, 1-Cu(II) could permeate the cell membrane and could be used in fluorescence imaging of S(2-) in living biological samples. These ON-OFF-ON type fluorescent sensors exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity towards the targets.

Rhodamine based pH-sensitive “intelligent” polymers as lysosome targeting probes and their imaging applications in vivo

Two rhodamine-based polymers (P-1 and P-2) were prepared via free radical polymerization, which could serve as lysosome targeting probes with prominent pH sensitivity. The polymers exhibited suitable water solubility and the content of rhodamine in them was determined through 1H NMR and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy. Both P-1 and P-2 have excellent selectivity, membrane permeability and low cytotoxicity. Confocal microscopy was used to investigate the intracellular distribution of lysosomes and visualize pH-responsive changes in the liver of zebrafish. Moreover, fluorescence imaging of nude mice of P-1 and P-2 displayed a chance for the visualization of cancerous tissue in vivo by sensing the tumor acidic microenvironments.

A highly sensitive and selective “turn-on” fluorescent probe for hypochlorous acid monitoring

A novel “turn-on” fluorescent probe 3 for monitoring hypochlorous acid was investigated, which showed high selectivity and sensitivity to hypochlorous acid over other ROS and was loaded into cell media to image HClO.

Rhodamine-based lysosome-targeted fluorescence probes: high pH sensitivity and their imaging application in living cells

Two rhodamine-based pH probes (RhP and RhPA) were synthesized via the click reaction. The probes exhibited high pH sensitivity and selectivity with significant fluorescence intensity enhancement. Cell imaging experiments demonstrated RhPA was a good lysosome targeting probe in living cells with low cytotoxicity and excellent photostability.

A novel coumarin-based water-soluble fluorescent probe for endogenously generated SO 2 in living cells

A novel coumarin-based “turn-on” fluorescent probe SS-1 was developed for selective detection of SO2 derivatives in 100% water solution among reactive sulfur species (RSS). The detection limit of the method was 91.7 nM. Moreover, the probe exhibited low cytotoxicity and was successfully applied in the imaging of endogenously generated SO2 in HeLa cells.

A single design strategy for dual sensitive pH probe with a suitable range to map pH in living cells

Due to the lack of a proper imaging approach, a veracious pH map of normal and abnormal cell is still rare. In this work, we presented a rhodamine-salicylaldehyde combination (Rh-SA2) as a novel pH probe, which has dual sensitive units for both acidic and basic environment. This dual sensitive probe acts like a chameleon in living cells and offers the doubling guarantees for endocellular pH mapping. Moreover, a quantitative measurement of cellular pH changes was allowed and the endocellular pH values under drug-associated stimuli were also investigated.