The UV-and sensor-induced interferences to living systems pose a barrier for in vivo Zn2+ imaging. In this work, an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) fluorophore of smaller aromatic plane, 4-amino-7-nitro-2, 1, 3-benzoxadiazole, was adopted to construct visible light excited fluorescent Zn2+ sensor, NBD-TPEA. This sensor demonstrates a visible ICT absorption band, a large Stokes shift, and biocompatibility. It emits weakly (Φ= 0.003) without pH ...