A highly selective 7-hydroxy-3-methyl-benzoxazinone based fluorescent probe for instant detection of thiophenols in environmental samples

•A 7-hydroxy-benzoxazinone based fluorescent probe for thiophenols was developed.•The probe features large Stokes shift and significant fluorescent off–on responses.•The probe shows an instant, highly selective, and sensitive detection for thiophenols.•The probe was successfully applied to detect thiophenols in real water samples.

A new 7-hydroxy-3-methyl-benzoxazinone based fluorescent probe for thiophenols has been designed and synthesized. The probe displays highly selective and sensitive detection to thiophenols over other common analytes with instant response and remarkable large Stokes shift. It’s noteworthy that biothiols, aliphatic thiols, and reducing anions do not perturb the sensing of thiophenols. The limit of detection of the probe was calculated as low as 24 nM for thiophenols. Finally, the utility of probe was illustrated by the detection of thiophenol in real environmental water samples.

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