A fluorescent probe based on BODIPY for hydrogen sulfide imaging in living cells and zebrafish

A novel fluorescent probe based on 4,4-Difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) structure as fluorophore with 7-nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) served as detection unit was designed for specific and sensitive detection of H₂S in living cells and zebrafish. In this work, we prepared a novel fluorescent probe for detection of hydrogen sulfide with strong fluorescent enhancement, good biocompatible and excellent specifically detection. The probe 1 displayed emission at 580 nm with excited wavelength at 530 nm in aqueous solution which organic proportion was only 10%. This probe exhibits highly selectively and specifically to detect H₂S compared with other related interferences including sulphur-amino acids, sulfite ion and cations. In the addition of H₂S into the detection system, the fluorescent intensity was sharply increased about 170-fold with the limitation detection as low as 16.8 nM. The sensing mechanism was through the cleave reaction between analyte and NBD unit which was characterized by high resolution mass spectrum (HRMS). This platform also permits low biotoxicity which can successfully be utilized to evaluate the concentration level of H₂S and imaging in living cells and zebrafish.