A near-infrared fluorescent probe for selective detection of fluorion

In this work, we have designed and synthesized the fluorescent probe 1, which was capable to selectively detect fluoride anion (F−). More importantly, the probe 1 possessed near-infrared excitation and emission wavelengths (excitation at 650 nm and emission at 695), and the probe solution had changed dramatically from yellow to cyan with the addition of F–. In addition, the fluorescence intensity exhibited perfectly positive correlation with concentration of F− concentration from 0 to 40 μM (R2 = 0.9972), which offered the important condition for quantitative analysis. The probe 1 owned detection limit of 46 nM. Therefore, this near-infrared probe can be of great benefit for detecting F− in practical application