A new oxygen sensor, compound 2, was synthesized through a chemical modification of a popularly used oxygen sensor of platinum(II)-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin (PtTFPP). The new sensor compound 2 possesses four crosslinkable methacrylate functional moieties, enabling it to be polymerized and crosslinked with other monomers for polymer sensing film (also called membrane) preparation. Using this characteristic, compound 2 was covalently bonded to hydrophilic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-polyacrylamide (referred to as PHEMA to simplify) and hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) films. To better understand the advantages and disadvantages of chemical crosslinking approaches and the influence of polymer matrices on sensing performance, PtTFPP was physically incorporated into the same PHEMA and PS matrices to compare. Response to dissolved oxygen (DO), leaching of the sensor molecules from their matrices, photostability of the sensors, and response time to DO changes were studied. It was concluded that the chemical crosslinking of the sensor compound 2 in polymer matrices: (i) alleviated the leaching problem of sensor molecules which usually occurred in the physically doped sensing systems and (ii) significantly improved sensors' photostability. The PHEMA matrix was demonstrated to be more suitable for oxygen sensing than PS, because for the same sensor molecule, the oxygen sensitivity in PHEMA film was higher than that in PS and response time to DO change in the PHEMA film was faster than that in PS. It was the first time oxygen sensing films were successfully prepared using biocompatible hydrophilic PHEMA as a matrix, which does not allow leaching of the sensor molecules from the polymer matrix, has a faster response to DO changes than that of PS, and does not present cytotoxicity to human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells (A549). It is expected that the new sensor compound 2 and its similar compounds with chemically crosslinking characteristics can be widely applied to generate many interesting oxygen sensing materials for studying biological phenomena.

A series of new naphthalimide derivatives were synthesized and studied. Three of the materials (SM1, SM2, and SM3) possess methacrylate(s) moieties as pH sensor monomers, enabling these compounds to be polymerized with other monomers for thin film preparation for extracellular pH sensing. Herein, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(acrylamide) (PHEMA-co-PAM) was chosen as the polymer matrix. Structure influences on pH responses and pKa values were studied. The film P3 composed of the sensing moiety SM3 has a pKa close to the usual biological environmental pH of ~7. It was used as an extracellular pH sensor to monitor pH change during the metabolism of prokaryotic Escherichia coli (E. coil). On the other hand, the three sensor monomers are new intracellular biomarkers to sense lysosomes of eukaryotic cells since (1) their pKa values are in a range of 5.9 to 6.8; (2) their emission intensities at acidic conditions (such as at pH 5) are much stronger than those at a neutral condition of pH 7; (3) lysosomes range in size from 0.1 to 1.2 μm in diameter with pH ranging from 4.5 to 5.0, which is much more acidic than the pH value of the cytoplasm (usually with a pH value of ~7.2); and (4) the acidity of lysosomes enables a protonation of the amino groups of the pH probes making the sensors emit brightly in acidic organelles by inhibiting the photo-induced electron transfer from the amino groups to the fluorophores. Lysosome sensing was demonstrated using live human brain glioblastoma U87MG cell line, human cervical cancer HeLa cell line, and human esophagus premalignant CP-A and CP-D cell lines by observations of small acidic spherical organelles (lysosomes) and significant colocalizations (82 ~ 95%) of the sensors with a commercially available lysosome-selective staining probe LysoTracker Red® under confocal fluorescence microscopy.

Using a thermal polymerization approach and polymerizable pH and oxygen sensing monomers with green and red emission spectra, respectively, new pH, oxygen, and their dual sensing membranes were prepared using poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(acrylamide) as a matrix. The sensors were grafted on acrylate-modified quartz glass and characterized under different pH values, oxygen concentrations, ion strengths, temperatures and cell culture media. The pH and oxygen sensors were excited using the same excitation wavelength and exhibited well-separated emission spectra. The pH-sensing films showed good response over the pH range 5.5 to 8.5, corresponding to pKa values in the biologically-relevant range between 6.9 and 7.1. The oxygen-sensing films exhibited linear Stern-Volmer quenching responses to dissolved oxygen. As the sensing membranes were prepared using thermally initiated polymerization of sensing moiety-containing monomers, no leaching of the sensors from the membranes to buffers or medium was observed. This advantageous characteristic accounts in part for the sensors' biocompatibility without apparent toxicity to HeLa cells after 40 hours incubation. The dual-sensing membrane was used to measure pH and dissolved oxygen simultaneously. The measured results correlated with the set-point values.

Oxygen sensing films were synthesized by a chemical conjugation of functional platinum porphyrin probes in silica gel, polystyrene (PS), and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) matrices. Responses of the sensing films to gaseous oxygen and dissolved oxygen were studied and the influence of the matrices on the sensing behaviors was investigated. Silica gel films had the highest fluorescence intensity ratio from deoxygenated to oxygenated environments and the fastest response time to oxygen. PHEMA films had no response to gaseous oxygen, but had greater sensitivity and a faster response time for dissolved oxygen than those of PS films. The influence of matrices on oxygen response, sensitivity and response time was discussed. The influence is most likely attributed to the oxygen diffusion abilities of the matrices. Since the probes were chemically immobilized in the matrices, no leaching of the probes was observed from the sensing films when applied in aqueous environment. One sensing film made from the PHEMA matrix was used to preliminarily monitor the oxygen consumption of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. E. coli cell density and antibiotics ampicillin concentration dependent oxygen consumption was observed, indicating the potential application of the oxygen sensing film for biological application.