We demonstrated a highly electron-deficient system 1 as a turn-on fluorescence sensor for intracellular imaging of Cys/Hcy in biological samples. On the basis of the specific nucleophilic ability of thiols of Cys and Hcy, 1 exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity for Cys/Hcy over other amino acids and thiol biomolecules. This probe is the first Cys/Hcy sensor with excitation in the visible region and turn-on (75-fold) fluorescence emission and also gives a significant increase in two-photon excited fluorescence for sensing Cys/Hcy. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy and two-photon laser scanning microscopy experiments further established that 1 can be used for sensing Cys/Hcy within biological samples.
