A highly selective colorimetric chemodosimeter for fast and quantitative detection of hydrogen sulfide.

Based on the fact that hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) possesses the smallest steric hindrance among thiols and the SH(-) group adds faster to an electron-poor C=C double bond, we designed and synthesized a tricyanoethylene-derived colorimetric chemodosimeter 1 for the fast and highly selective assay of H(2)S. Chemodosimeter 1 exhibited excellent water-solubility due to the introduction of two hydrophilic hydroxyl groups. Upon the addition of Na(2)S, chemodosimeter 1 showed a fast (complete within 400 s) and robust decrease of the absorption intensity (>97%), accompanied by a color change from red to colorless. Additionally, a linear relationship between absorption intensity and the added Na(2)S concentrations (0-130 μM) was observed in aqueous buffer solution (pH 7.4, 20 mM PBS). Importantly, the proposed paradigm in this paper, adoption of the tricyanoethylene derivative as a recognition receptor to distinguish H(2)S from other thiols and analytes, provides a promising methodology for the design of colorimetric and fluorescent chemodosimeters for fast determination of H(2)S.