A mitochondrion-targeted dual-site fluorescent probe for the discriminative detection of SO(3)(2−) and HSO(3)(−) in living HepG-2 cells

Sulfur dioxide, known as an environmental pollutant, produced during industrial productions is also a common food additive that is permitted worldwide. In living organisms, sulfur dioxide forms hydrates of sulfite (SO(2)·H(2)O), bisulfite (HSO(3)(−)) and sulfite (SO(3)(2−)) under physiological pH conditions; these three exist in a dynamic balance and play a role in maintaining redox balance, further participating in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. On the basis of the differences in nucleophilicity between SO(3)(2−) and HSO(3)(−), for the first time, we built a mitochondrion-targeted dual-site fluorescent probe (Mito-CDTH-CHO) based on benzopyran for the highly specific detection of SO(3)(2−) and HSO(3)(−) with two diverse emission channels. Mito-CDTH-CHO can discriminatively respond to the levels of HSO(3)(−) and SO(3)(2−). Besides, its advantages of low cytotoxicity, superior biocompatibility and excellent mitochondrial enrichment ability contribute to the detection and observation of the distribution of sulfur dioxide derivatives in living organisms as well as allowing further studies on the physiological functions of sulfur dioxide.