Construction of a Flavonol-Based Fluorescent Probe with a Large Stokes Shift for Highly Selective and Rapid Monitoring of H<sub>2</sub>S in Water, Foodstuff, and Living Systems
Shuai Gong, Ahui Qin, Yan Zhang, Jixiang Tian, Mingxin Li, Yueyin Liang, Xu Xu, Zhonglong Wang, Shifa Wang
Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is closely related to food safety, environmental pollution, and human health. Herein, a fluorescent turn-on responsive probe, 3-(2,4-dinitrophenoxy)-7-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)-2-(furan-2-yl)-4 H -chromen-4-one ( DPF-NP ), with a large Stokes shift (210 nm) based on the natural product flavonol was synthesized for detecting H 2 S. DPF-NP showed high selectivity and sensitivity, a low limit of detection (96 nM), and fast response (3 min) for detecting H 2 S. After reacting with H 2 S, DPF-NP exhibited strong orange fluorescence (590 nm), attributed to the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) effect. In addition, the probe DPF-NP could quantitatively monitor H 2 S in environmental water and food samples (red wine, beer, eggs, milk, and sour bamboo shoots). Furthermore, DPF-NP has been successful in imaging H 2 S in vegetable tissues, living cells, and zebrafish. Therefore, this work offers an encouraging method for monitoring H 2 S in environmental pollution, food quality safety, and living systems.