An NBD fluorophore-based colorimetric and fluorescent chemosensor for hydrogen sulfide and its application for bioimaging

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an important gaseous mediator in cellular physiology and pathology. For understanding the biological action of H2S to both healthy and disease states, it is important to develop H2S-selective sensor. Herein we report a colorimetric and fluorescent probe, which employs an NBD moiety as fluorophore, and is equipped with azide group as H2S-active unit. The probe exhibits selective and sensitive response to H2S in aqueous solution. By employing 1 μM sensor, the detection limit was evaluated to be 680 nM with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Confocal microscopy imaging experiments demonstrate the probe has potential as a powerful tool for the imaging of hydrogen sulfide in living cells.