Abstract

The novel coumarin-based 'turn-on' fluorescent probe (E)-3-(2,5- dimethoxybenzylideneamino)-7-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one (MGM) was designed, synthesized, and characterized. This compound shows high selectivity for Cu +2, combined with a large fluorescence enhancement upon binding to Cu 2+. Benesi-Hildebrand and Job plots demonstrate that the stoichiometry of the Cu 2+ complex formed is 2:1. Preliminary studies employing epifluorescence microscopy demonstrated that Cu +2 could be imaged in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells treated with MGM. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.