{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T21:32:26Z","timestamp":1786656746713,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]],"date-time":"2022-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1646006400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007129","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZR2018ZA0547 ZR2020YQ38"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZR2018ZA0547 ZR2020YQ38"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007129","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014417","name":"Fundamental Research Fund of Shandong University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014417","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Chem."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Quantitative and accurate determination of iron ions play a vital role in maintaining environment and human health, but very few polymeric chemosensors were available for the detection of Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> in aqueous solutions. Herein, a water-soluble rhodamine-poly (ethylene glycol) conjugate (DRF-PEG), as a dual responsive colorimetric and fluorescent polymeric sensor for Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> detection with high biocompatibility, was first synthesized through Schiff base reaction between rhodamine 6G hydrazide and benzaldehyde-functionalized polyethylene glycol. As expected, the introduction of PEG segment in DRF-PEG significantly improved the water solubility of rhodamine derivatives and resulted in a good biosensing performance. The detection limit of DRF-PEG for Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> in pure water is 1.00\u00a0\u03bcM as a fluorescent sensor and 3.16\u00a0\u03bcM as a colorimetric sensor at pH 6.5. The specific sensing mechanism of DRF-PEG toward Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> is proposed based on the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism, in which the O and N atoms in rhodamine moiety, together with the benzene groups from benzaldehyde-modified PEG segment, participate in coordination with Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup>. Furthermore, DRF-PEG was applied for the ratiometric imaging of Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> in HeLa cells and showed the potential for quantitative determination of Fe<jats:sup>3+<\/jats:sup> in fetal bovine serum samples. This work provides insights for the design of water-soluble chemosensors, which can be implemented in iron-related biological sensing and clinical diagnosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fchem.2022.845627","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]],"date-time":"2022-02-28T07:56:11Z","timestamp":1646034971000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Facile Synthesis of Water-Soluble Rhodamine-Based Polymeric Chemosensors via Schiff Base Reaction for Fe3+ Detection and Living Cell Imaging"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Xiaoyong","family":"Qiu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ning","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaijie","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiwei","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingcheng","family":"Hao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15364","DOI":"10.1021\/la5039798","article-title":"Ternary System Based on Fluorophore-Surfactant Assemblies-Cu2+ for Highly Sensitive and Selective Detection of Arginine in Aqueous Solution","volume":"30","author":"Cao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Langmuir"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4564","DOI":"10.1021\/cr400546e","article-title":"Fluorescent Sensors for Measuring Metal Ions in Living Systems","volume":"114","author":"Carter","year":"2014","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1016\/j.saa.2017.12.023","article-title":"Two Sugar-Rhodamine \"Turn-On\" Fluorescent Probes for the Selective Detection of Fe3+","volume":"193","author":"Chen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Spectrochim. Acta A: Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5077","DOI":"10.1021\/acsapm.0c00878","article-title":"Rhodamine-Appended Polymeric Probe: An Efficient Colorimetric and Fluorometric Sensing Platform for Hg2+ in Aqueous Medium and Living Cells","volume":"2","author":"Choudhury","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Polym. Mater."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"120999","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jorganchem.2019.120999","article-title":"Solvent Free Synthesis of Ferrocene Based Rhodamine - Hydrazone Molecular Probe with Improved Bioaccumulation for Sensing and Imaging Applications","volume":"904","author":"Dewangan","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Organomet. Chem."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"518","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2017.02.094","article-title":"Rhodamine Based Chemosensor for Trivalent Cations: Synthesis, Spectral Properties, Secondary Complex as Sensor for Arsenate and Molecular Logic gates","volume":"246","author":"Dey","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B: Chem."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"707","DOI":"10.1039\/c6tb02449a","article-title":"Bio-friendly Maillard Reaction Fluorescent Products from Glutathione and Ascorbic Acid for the Rapid and Label-free Detection of Fe3+ in Living Cells","volume":"5","author":"Dong","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. B"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5037","DOI":"10.1039\/c9py01179j","article-title":"A Chitosan-Based Fluorescent Hydrogel for Selective Detection of Fe2+ Ions in Gel-To-Sol Mode and Turn-Off Fluorescence Mode","volume":"10","author":"Fan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Polym. Chem."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.talanta.2009.11.018","article-title":"New Method for Speciation Analysis of Aluminium Fluoride Complexes by HPLC-FAAS Hyphenated Technique","volume":"80","author":"Frankowski","year":"2010","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"906","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jece.2017.01.017","article-title":"The Chromogenic and Fluorescent Sensing Properties for a Water Soluble Polymeric Chemosensor Bearing Rhodamine Ethanediamine Moieties with Oxethyl (OCH 2 CH 2 ) as a Spacer","volume":"5","author":"Geng","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Environ. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23958","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.5b06523","article-title":"Rhodamine-Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots for Detection of Fe3+ in Cancer Stem Cells","volume":"7","author":"Guo","year":"2015","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Inter."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2076","DOI":"10.1039\/c6cs00719h","article-title":"Fluorescent Bioimaging of pH: from Design to Applications","volume":"46","author":"Hou","year":"2017","journal-title":"Chem. Soc. Rev."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5983","DOI":"10.1039\/c3dt53159g","article-title":"Rhodamine-based Fluorescent Off-On Sensor for Fe3+ - in Aqueous Solution and in Living Cells: 8-aminoquinoline Receptor and 2 : 1 Binding","volume":"43","author":"Huang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Dalton Trans."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1158","DOI":"10.1039\/c4ta05736h","article-title":"Facile Functionalization of a Tetrahedron-like PEG Macromonomer-Based Fluorescent Hydrogel with High Strength and its Heavy Metal Ion Detection","volume":"3","author":"Jia","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1007\/s00604-018-2766-x","article-title":"Zwitterion-functionalized Polymer Microspheres as a Sorbent for Solid Phase Extraction of Trace Levels of V(V), Cr(III), As(III), Sn(IV), Sb(III) and Hg(II) Prior to Their Determination by ICP-MS","volume":"185","author":"Jia","year":"2018","journal-title":"Microchim. Acta"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.talanta.2018.01.073","article-title":"A Novel Rhodamine B-Based \"Off-On'' Fluorescent Sensor for Selective Recognition of Copper (II) Ions","volume":"184","author":"Jiao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14402","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.langmuir.8b03019","article-title":"Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Schiff Base and Selectively Turn on Circularly Polarized Luminescence by Al3+","volume":"34","author":"Jin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Langmuir"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"441","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.8b01429","article-title":"Hydrazine Expos\u00e9: The Next-Generation Fluorescent Probe","volume":"4","author":"Jung","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dyepig.2014.01.003","article-title":"A New Rhodamine-Based Fluorescent Chemosensor for Fe3+ and its Application in Living Cell Imaging","volume":"104","author":"Li","year":"2014","journal-title":"Dyes Pigm."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2015.01.105","article-title":"A Novel Reversible Colorimetric Chemosensor for Rapid Naked-Eye Detection of Cu2+ in Pure Aqueous Solution","volume":"211","author":"Li","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B: Chem."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4513","DOI":"10.1039\/c5nj03526k","article-title":"A Highly Selective and Reversible Water-Soluble Polymer Based-Colorimetric Chemosensor for Rapid Detection of Cu2+ in Pure Aqueous Solution","volume":"40","author":"Li","year":"2016","journal-title":"New J. Chem."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5395","DOI":"10.1039\/c8an01130c","article-title":"A Dual Chemosensor for Cu2+ and Hg2+ Based on a Rhodamine-Terminated Water-Soluble Polymer in 100% Aqueous Solution","volume":"143","author":"Li","year":"2018","journal-title":"Analyst"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13218","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.langmuir.0c02072","article-title":"Improving Ion Selectivity of 1,4,7-Triazacyclononane-Based Receptor by Zinc Coordination: \"Turn-On\" Chemosensor for Br- and Fe3+ Ions","volume":"36","author":"Lin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Langmuir"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33275","DOI":"10.1039\/c5ra04096e","article-title":"Biodegradable and Crosslinkable PPF-PLGA-PEG Self-Assembled Nanoparticles Dual-Decorated with Folic Acid Ligands and Rhodamine B Fluorescent Probes for Targeted Cancer Imaging","volume":"5","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1700162","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.201700162","article-title":"Multifunctional Polymeric Micelles for Combining Chelation and Detection of Iron in Living Cells","volume":"6","author":"Liu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Adv. Healthc. Mater."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jes.2019.12.005","article-title":"A Selective N,N-dithenoyl-rhodamine Based Fluorescent Probe for Fe3+ Detection in Aqueous and Living Cells","volume":"90","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Environ. Sci."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.carbpol.2018.03.073","article-title":"Characterization of a Fluorescent Hydrogel Synthesized Using Chitosan, Polyvinyl Alcohol and 9-anthraldehyde for the Selective Detection and Discrimination of Trace Fe3+ and Fe2+ in Water for Live-Cell Imaging","volume":"193","author":"Maity","year":"2018","journal-title":"Carbohydr. Polym."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"612","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2014.06.017","article-title":"A Novel Fluorescent \"Turn-On\" Chemosensor for Nanomolar Detection of Fe(III) from Aqueous Solution and its Application in Living Cells Imaging","volume":"61","author":"Nandre","year":"2014","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2017.01.072","article-title":"A Dual Responsive Colorimetric and Fluorescent Reversible Turn-On Chemosensor for Iron (Fe3+): Computational and Spectroscopic Investigations","volume":"245","author":"Nayab","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B: Chem."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4660","DOI":"10.1039\/d0dt00026d","article-title":"A Micellized Fluorescence Sensor Based on Amplified Quenching for Highly Sensitive Detection of Non-transferrin-bound Iron in Serum","volume":"49","author":"Park","year":"2020","journal-title":"Dalton Trans."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1319","DOI":"10.1039\/c2ta00411a","article-title":"Highly Sensitive and Selective Detection of Cu(ii) by Periodic Mesoporous Rhodamine Derivative-Based Organosilicas with crystal-like Pore walls","volume":"1","author":"Qiu","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1493","DOI":"10.1039\/c3ta14314g","article-title":"Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas for Ultra-high Selective Copper(ii) Detection and Sensing Mechanism","volume":"2","author":"Qiu","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4126","DOI":"10.1002\/chem.201406143","article-title":"Ratiometric Fluorescent Nanosensors for Copper(II) Based on Bis(rhodamine)-Derived PMOs with J-type Aggregates","volume":"21","author":"Qiu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chem. Eur. J."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.6b00834","article-title":"In Vivo biosensing: Progress and Perspectives","volume":"2","author":"Rong","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10717","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.6b01325","article-title":"Nitrogen and Phosphorus Co-doped Carbon Nanodots as a Novel Fluorescent Probe for Highly Sensitive Detection of Fe3+ in Human Serum and Living Cells","volume":"8","author":"Shi","year":"2016","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Inter."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1455","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.0c00395","article-title":"Au Sputtered Paper Chromatography Tandem Raman Platform for Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metal Ions","volume":"5","author":"Song","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3094","DOI":"10.1039\/c8an01915k","article-title":"Dual-binding Pyridine and Rhodamine B Conjugate Derivatives as Fluorescent Chemosensors for Ferric Ions in Aqueous media and Living Cells","volume":"144","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"Analyst"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2019.01.107","article-title":"Always-on and Water-Soluble Rhodamine Amide Designed by Positive Charge Effect and Application in Mitochondrion-Targetable Imaging of Living Cells","volume":"286","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B: Chem."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"112060","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jphotochem.2019.112060","article-title":"Turn on Fluorescent Chemosensor Containing Rhodamine B Fluorophore for Selective Sensing and In Vivo Fluorescent Imaging of Fe3+ Ions in HeLa Cell Line and Zebrafish","volume":"384","author":"Vijay","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1337","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.7b00400","article-title":"Facile Synthesis of Fluorescent Conjugated Polyelectrolytes Using Polydentate Sulfonate as Highly Selective and Sensitive Copper(II) Sensors","volume":"2","author":"Wu","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1523","DOI":"10.1021\/acsabm.8b00435","article-title":"Paper-based Fluorogenic Device for Detection of Copper Ions in a Biological System","volume":"1","author":"Wu","year":"2018","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Bio Mater."},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11074","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.7b05109","article-title":"Duplicating Dynamic Strain-Stiffening Behavior and Nanomechanics of Biological Tissues in a Synthetic Self-Healing Flexible Network Hydrogel","volume":"11","author":"Yan","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"883","DOI":"10.1016\/s0039-9140(02)00120-0","article-title":"Development of a Novel Rhodamine-type Fluorescent Probe to Determine Peroxynitrite","volume":"57","author":"Yang","year":"2002","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9426","DOI":"10.1021\/jacs.8b00103","article-title":"Rhodamine 6G-Labeled Pyridyl Aroylhydrazone Fe(II) Complex Exhibiting Synergetic Spin Crossover and Fluorescence","volume":"140","author":"Yuan","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2894","DOI":"10.1021\/bm200423f","article-title":"Synthesis of Multiresponsive and Dynamic Chitosan-Based Hydrogels for Controlled Release of Bioactive Molecules","volume":"12","author":"Zhang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biomacromolecules"},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"906","DOI":"10.1021\/acsabm.8b00761","article-title":"Super Hydrophilic Semi-IPN Fluorescent Poly(N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide) Hydrogel for Ultrafast, Selective, and Long-Term Effective Mercury(II) Detection in a Bacteria-Laden System","volume":"2","author":"Zhang","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Bio Mater."},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"118105","DOI":"10.1016\/j.saa.2020.118105","article-title":"One-step Synthesis of Rhodamine-Based Fe3+ Fluorescent Probes via Mannich Reaction and its Application in Living Cell Imaging","volume":"231","author":"Zhang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Spectrochim. Acta Part A: Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc."},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"37477","DOI":"10.1021\/acsami.0c10257","article-title":"Dye-Encapsulated Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF-71) for Fluorochromic Sensing of Pressure, Temperature, and Volatile Solvents","volume":"12","author":"Zhang","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Mater. Inter."},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dyepig.2017.03.057","article-title":"Water-soluble Rhodamine-Based Chemosensor for Fe 3+ with High Sensitivity, Selectivity and Anti-interference Capacity and its Imaging Application in Living Cells","volume":"142","author":"Zhou","year":"2017","journal-title":"Dyes Pigm."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Chemistry"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fchem.2022.845627\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]],"date-time":"2022-02-28T07:56:14Z","timestamp":1646034974000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fchem.2022.845627\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]]},"references-count":49,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fchem.2022.845627"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fchem.2022.845627","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2646"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2646","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,28]]},"article-number":"845627"}}