Abstract: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a member of the gasotransmitter family that includes NO and H2S and is implicated in a variety of pathological and physiological conditions. Whereas exogenous therapeutic additions of CO to tissues and whole animals have been well studied, the real-time spatial and temporal tracking of CO at the cellular level remains an open challenge. We now report a new type of turn-on fluorescent probe for selective CO detection by exploiting palladium-mediated carbonylation reactivity. The compounds of the invention are capable of detecting CO both in aqueous buffer and in live cells with high selectivity over a range of biologically relevant reactive small molecules, providing a potentially powerful approach for interrogating its chemistry in biological systems.

Abstract: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a member of the gasotransmitter family that includes NO and H2S and is implicated in a variety of pathological and physiological conditions. Whereas exogenous therapeutic additions of CO to tissues and whole animals have been well studied, the real-time spatial and temporal tracking of CO at the cellular level remains an open challenge. We now report a new type of turn-on fluorescent probe for selective CO detection by exploiting palladium-mediated carbonylation reactivity. The compounds of the invention are capable of detecting CO both in aqueous buffer and in live cells with high selectivity over a range of biologically relevant reactive small molecules, providing a potentially powerful approach for interrogating its chemistry in biological systems.

Abstract: A quinoline-oxazoline compound having the formula: where one of X1 and X2 is N and the other is C and one of R1, R2 and R3 is Z wherein Z is an oxazoline radical having the formula such that when X1 is N R2 is Z and R1 is absent, and when X2 is N either R1 or R3 is Z and R2 is absent. R1 and R3 through R12 are independently H or a pendant moiety which does not interfere with coordination of either N in the quinoline compound with a coordination center. These compounds can be complexed with a suitable coordination center such as catalytically active palladium and can be highly useful in catalytically oxidizing alkenes with high regioselectivity.

Abstract: A quinoline-oxazoline compound having the formula: where one of X1 and X2 is N and the other is C and one of R1, R2 and R3 is Z wherein Z is an oxazoline radical having the formula such that when X1 is N R2 is Z and R1 is absent, and when X2 is N either R1 or R3 is Z and R2 is absent. R1 and R3 through R12 are independently H or a pendant moiety which does not interfere with coordination of either N in the quinoline compound with a coordination center. These compounds can be complexed with a suitable coordination center such as catalytically active palladium and can be highly useful in catalytically oxidizing alkenes with high regioselectivity.