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 mM 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. Crown