A reversible fluorescent Hg2+ chemosensor based on a receptor composed of a thiol atom and an alkene moiety for living cell fluorescence imaging.

A novel reversible fluorescence turn-on chemosensor 1 for Hg(2+) was constructed based on a new receptor composed of an S atom and an alkene moiety. The sensor showed a large fluorescence enhancement response (1000-fold enhancement), high selectivity, and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 27.5 nM. Significantly, the reversible sensor functioned well in the near pure aqueous medium and could be employed for Hg(2+) imaging in living cells.