A water soluble and fast response fluorescent turn-on copper complex probe for H2S detection in zebra fish

•Synthesis of water soluble copper complex [Cu(MaT-cyclen)2].•We used [Cu(MaT-cyclen)2] as a fluorescent probe for the detection of H2S.•Fluorescence imaging of H2S in live cells as well as in zebra fish were studied.

According to the displacement method, herein we reported a water soluble copper complex [Cu(MaT-cyclen)2] as a fluorescent probe for the detection of H2S. For this, 1-((1-((10-methylanthracen-9-yl)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (MaT-cyclen) was synthesized first. To improve its solubility in aqueous media, sodium acetate group was introduced into 8-hydroxy-2-quinoline successfully. MaT-cyclen was chelated with Cu(II) to form [Cu(MaT-cyclen)2] complex, which displayed high sensitivity and selectivity for H2S over the other possible competitive substances on the basis of forming CuS. Meanwhile, [Cu(MaT-cyclen)2] displayed rapid response (<1 min), well reversibility, lowest detection limit (205 nM), and high sensitivity for recognizing H2S in aqueous solution. Furthermore, its potential utility for biological applications was confirmed by fluorescence imaging of H2S in live cells as well as in zebra fish.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide