A ratiometric fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide based on the nucleophilic substitution-cyclization of diselenides

•A new colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescence probe for H2S is developed.•The use of the diselenide bond as the sensing group of H2S shows high selectivity and sensitivity.•The probe is applied in measuring H2S in bovine plasma and bioimaging in cells.

A new ratiometric fluorescence probe for hydrogen sulfide is developed. The design was based on a H2S-mediated diselenide cleavage and intramolecular cyclization to release the fluorophore. The probe showed high selectivity and sensitivity for H2S over other reactive sulfur species and was successfully applied for the detection of H2S in bovine plasma and bioimaging in live cells.

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