Highly selective OFF-ON fluorescent sensor for D-3-HB in aqueous

Diabetic ketoacidosis ( DKA ) is the most common hyper-glycemic emergency in patients with diabetes and it was caused by too much ketones. Among the total ketone body D-3-hydroxybutyric acid ( D-3-HB ) is the major nearly 78%. So the detection of serum D-3-HB has been a routine marker for diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis. Fluorescent detection is the most efficient method operational simplicity low cost real time monitoring and high sensitivity. Here Two novel probe 4-(2-hydroxybenzylicene)thiosemicarbazide ( 1 ) and 4-(1H- imidazo[45-f][110]- phenanthrolin-2-yl)phenol ( 2 ) were synthesized and shown a peculiar OFF-ON fluorescent response to D-3-HB in aqueous. The probe 1 & 2 have exhibited a selective and sensitive response to the D-3-HB over other common metal ions anions and amino acids. Moreover the mechanism was confirmed by 1H-NMR and ESI-MS. Furthermore this probe 1 successfully applied to bioimaging demonstrating its value of practical applications in biological systems.