A novel fluorescent probe for rapid and sensitive detection of hydrogen sulfide in living cells

Highlight
• A far-red emitting probe for H2S has been developed based on indole-BODIPY platform.
• The probe responds to H2S (t1/2 = 2.5 min) rapidly with high sensitivity and selectivity.
• The detection limit is as low as 0.02 μM for H2S.

A novel fluorescent probe for H2S was developed based on a far-red emitting indole-BODIPY, which was decorated with morpholine and 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl (DNBS) group. This probe showed rapid response (t1/2 = 3 min), high selectivity and sensitivity for H2S with significant colorimetric and fluorescence OFF–ON signals, which was triggered by cleavage of 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl group. This probe could quantitatively detect the concentrations of H2S ranging from 0 to 60 μM, and the detection of limit was found to be as low as 26 nM. Cell imaging results indicated that the probe could detect and visualize H2S in the living cells.

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