A selective fluorescent probe for hydrogen sulfide from a series of flavone derivatives and intracellular imaging

Through the orthogonal design of two fluorophores and two recognition groups, a series of fluorescent probes were developed from the flavone derivatives for hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The probe FlaN-DN stood out from the primarily screening on the selectivity and response intensities. Among the recent reported probes for the H2S detection, FlaN-DN indicated the most highlighted advantages including the rapid response (within 200 s) and the high response multiplication (over 100 folds). Moreover, FlaN-DN suggested practical capabilities including a wide linear range (0–400 μM), a relatively high sensitivity (limit of detection 0.13 μM), and high selectivity towards H2S. As a low cytotoxic probe, FlaN-DN achieved the imaging in living HeLa cells. FlaN-DN could detect the endogenous generation H2S and visualize the dose-dependent responses to the exogenous H2S level.