A two-photon fluorescent probe for imaging hydrogen sulfide in living cells

• A two-photon fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide was synthesized.
• The probe is extremely sensitive to H2S with 37-fold emission enhancement.
• The probe has an excellent selectivity for H2S.
• The probe can detect H2S in bovine serum.
• The probe can image H2S in living cells.

Fluorescent probes for hydrogen sulfide have received considerable attention because of the biological significance of H2S recognized recently. Two-photo microscopy offers advantages of increased penetration depth, localized excitation, and prolonged observation time. However, two-photon fluorescent probes for H2S are still rare. In this work, we introduced a dinitrophenyl ether group into the 4-position of 1,8-naphthalimide, which acts as the H2S reactive site, to efficiently yield compound NI–NHS as a two-photo fluorescent probe for H2S. The probe NI–NHS has a high selectivity for H2S over competitive anions and sulfide-containing analytes. This probe exhibits turn-on fluorescence detection of H2S in bovine serum and two-photon fluorescent imaging of H2S in living cells.

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