Development of fluorescent probes based on calixarene-coated water soluble quantum dots

提出了一种以两亲性杯芳烃为表面包覆剂制备水溶性高荧光半导体量子点的新方法。所得量子点的荧光效率比用简单的硫醇化合物作为表面包覆剂制备的量子点的荧光效率高约5倍。杯芳烃包裹的量子点的表面可以很容易地被抗体等生物分子修饰，显示出它们作为活细胞成像的荧光探针的用途。

A novel method for preparing water-soluble highly fluorescent semiconductor quantum dots was developed using amphiphilic calixarenes as surface coating agents. The fluorescence efficiency of the resulting quantum dots was about 5 times higher than that of the quantum dots prepared by using simple thiol compounds as surface coating agents. The surface of the calixarene-coated quantum dots can be easily modified with biomolecules such as antibodies, showing their utility as fluorescent probes for live cell imaging.