A highly selective fluorescent probe for quantitative detection of hydrogen sulfide.

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.