A turn-on response fluorescent probe based on triphenylamine derivative for detection of AsO in water samples and cells.

Arsenic is a highly toxic substance, which has a serious threat to human health and environmental pollution. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop an analytical method for detection of arsenic. Here, a novel arsenic fluorescent probe TPA-As-FP based on triphenylamine fluorophore was synthesized by Schiff base reaction. TPA-As-FP exhibited the advantages of good fluorescence properties and large Stokes shift, which could selectively detect AsO in mixed solution (V/V = 1/2). The fluorescence emission of TPA-As-FP was significantly enhanced with the addition of AsO. Then the HRMS experiment was performed to prove the response mechanism was mainly attributed to that the hydrogen bond interaction between TPA-As-FP and AsO inhibited the ESIPT effect of the probe, resulting in enhanced fluorescence. And The Job's plot also confirmed that the stoichiometric binding ratio between TPA-As-FP and AsO is 1:1. Furthermore, TPA-As-FP could rapidly response to AsO within 1 min and reached fluorescence stabilization at 10 min. TPA-As-FP also showed good anti-interference ability for AsO detection, and the limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 1.10 μM. Importantly, TPA-As-FP was successfully employed for the detection of AsO in tap water and river water samples with satisfactory recoveries from 100.1 % to 104.8 %. TPA-As-FP could also be employed for the imaging of AsO in cells, showing great application potential.