Superoxide anion (O₂^•−) is an important reactive oxygen species (ROS), and plays critical roles in biological systems. ER stress has close relation with many metabolic diseases, and could lead to the abnormal production of ROS including O₂^•−. Herein, we present an ER-targeting probe (ER-Tf) for the detection of O₂^•− in living cells. The probe ER-Tf used triflate as the response site for O₂^•−, and employed p-methylbenzenesulfonamide as ER-targeting moiety. In response to O₂^•−, the triflate of the probe ER-Tf converted to hydroxyl group, providing strong blue emission under the excitation of ultraviolet light. The probe ER-Tf exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity to O₂^•−. Bioimaging experiments showed that the probe ER-Tf can be applied to detect O₂^•− at ER, and also demonstrated that rotenone could increase the generation of O₂^•− in living cells, while the O₂^•− level at ER showed no remarkable change during ferroptosis.

超氧阴离子(O ₂ ^•− )是一种重要的活性氧(ROS)，在生物系统中起着至关重要的作用。内质网应激与多种代谢性疾病密切相关，可导致包括O ₂ ^•−在内的ROS异常产生。在此，我们提出了一种用于检测活细胞中O ₂ ^•−的ER 靶向探针 ( ER-Tf )。探针ER-Tf使用三氟甲磺酸作为O ₂ ^•−的响应位点，并使用对甲基苯磺酰胺作为ER靶向部分。响应 O ₂ ^•−，探针ER-Tf的三氟甲磺酸转变为羟基，在紫外光的激发下发出强烈的蓝光。探针ER-Tf对O ₂ ^•-表现出高灵敏度和选择性。生物成像实验表明， ER-Tf探针可用于检测ER处的O ₂ ^{•− ，同时也证明鱼藤酮可以增加活细胞中O} ₂ ^•−的生成，而ER处的O ₂ ^•−水平显示没有ferroptosis 期间的显着变化。