Nanomolar pyrophosphate detection and nucleus staining in living cells with simple terpyridine–Zn(II) complexes

Great efforts have been made to develop fluorescent probes for pyrophosphate (PPi) detection. Nucleus staining with fluorescence microscopy has been also widely investigated. But fluorescent probes for PPi detection with high sensitivity in water medium and nucleus staining with low–cost non–precious metal complexes in living cells are still challenging. Herein, we report simple terpyridine–Zn(II) complexes for selective nanomolar PPi detection over ATP and ADP in water based on aggregation induced emission (AIE) and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). In addition, these terpyridine–Zn(II) complexes were successfully employed for nucleus staining in living cells. These results demonstrated simply obtained terpyridine–Zn(II) complexes are powerful tool for PPi detection and the development of PPi–related studies.