Aggregation-Induced Emission Probe for Light-Up and in Situ Detection of Calcium Ions at High Concentration

The fluorescent probe for the detection of calcium ions is an indispensable tool in the biomedical field. The millimolar order of Ca(II) ions is associated with many physiological processes and diseases, such as hypercalcemia, soft tissue calcification, and bone microcracks. However, the conventional fluorescent probes are only suitable for imaging Ca(II) ions in the nanomolar to micromolar range, which can be because of their high affinities toward Ca(II) ions and aggregation-caused quenching drawbacks. To tackle this challenge, we herein develop an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe SA-4CO2Na for selective and light-up detection of Ca(II) ions in the millimolar range (0.6–3.0 mM), which can efficiently distinguish between hypercalcemic (1.4–3.0 mM) and normal (1.0–1.4 mM) Ca2+ ion levels. The formation of fibrillar aggregates between SA-4CO2Na and Ca(II) ions was clearly verified by fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron analysis. Moreover, this AIE-active probe can be used for wash-free and light-up imaging of a high concentration of Ca(II) ions even in the solid analytes, including calcium deposits in psammomatous meningioma slice, microcracks on bovine bone surface, and microdefects on hydroxyapatite-based scaffold. It is thus expected that this AIE-active probe would have broad biomedical applications through light-up imaging and sensing of Ca(II) ions at the millimolar level.