Recent progress in fluorescent probes for the detection of hypochlorous acid

Abstract

Hypochlorous acid (HClO) is one of the biologically important reactive oxygen species (ROS), which plays important roles in the human immune defence system, and contributes to the destruction of invading bacteria and pathogens. But excessive formation of HClO can lead to tissue damage and a series of human diseases, such as atherosclerosis, arthritis and even cancers, etc. Therefore, a rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of HClO in biological samples is important. In recent years, fluorescent probes for HClO have been developed due to various advantages such as simplicity of operation, lower limit of detection, low toxicity, high sensitivity and selectivity. A general overview of the recent research on the design, synthesis and application of fluorescent probes for hypochlorous acid is provided.