A new Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer (ESIPT) based fluorescent probe for the detection of Hg²⁺ has been rationally designed and developed. Based on the specific reactivity of mercury-promoted hydrolysis, the probe exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity for mercury ions in almost pure aqueous solution (containing only 1% DMSO) with a low detection limit of 1.9 ppb. Furthermore, the probe was also successfully used for fluorescence imaging of Hg²⁺ in live cells.

中文翻译：

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基于ESIPT的水溶液中Hg ²⁺荧光探针及其在活细胞成像中的应用

合理设计和开发了一种基于激发态分子内质子转移（ESIPT）的新型荧光探针，用于检测Hg ²⁺。基于汞促进水解的比反应性，该探针在几乎纯净的水溶液（仅含1％DMSO）中显示出对汞离子的高选择性和灵敏度，检测限为1.9 ppb。此外，该探针还成功用于活细胞中Hg ^2+的荧光成像。