Analytical Sciences

A Highly Selective Fluorescent Probe for Quantitative Detection of Hydrogen Sulfide

Jing DING,* Yanqing GE,* and Baocun ZHU**

*School of Chemical Engineering, Taishan Medical University, Taian 271016, P. R. China
**School of Resources and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, P. R. China

We designed and synthesized a highly selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) based on the one step nucleophilic addition reaction between H₂S and electron-poor C=C double bond. Our proposed probe displayed high selectivity for H₂S over other analytes including cysteine (Cys) and glutathione (GSH), which might be because the steric hindrance of H₂S is less than other thiols. Additionally, a linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and the concentrations of Na₂S (0 – 450 μM) was obtained in an aqueous buffer solution (pH 7.4, 20 mM PBS). Particularly, we found that the adoption of the acetyl benzimidazole derivative as a recognition receptor to distinguish H₂S from other thiols and analytes provides a promising methodology for the design of fluorescent probes for the determination of H₂S.

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