Abstract

A new Rhodamine-based ´´Turn On`` fluorescent probe (E)-3',6'-bis(diethylamino)-2-((2,5-dimethoxybenzylidene)amino)spiro[isoindoline-1,9'-xanthen]-3-one (WGB) was synthetized. Results shows that WGB is selective for Cu2+ cations, forming a WGB-Cu2+ complex in a 2:1 stoichiometry, confirmed through DFT calculations. The detection limit of WGB-Cu+2 complex is 7.44 x 10-7 M. Preliminary studies employing epifluorescence microscopy demonstrate the Cu2+ can be imaged in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells treated with WGB.