A coumarin-based colorimetric fluorescent probe for rapid response and highly sensitive detection of hydrogen sulfide in living cells.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) plays a vital role in numerous biological processes in living organisms. To better understand its functions, a fluorescent probe to fast and sensitively detect HS is imminently needed. Keep this in mind, we reasonably designed probe DHC for detecting HS based on α, β-unsaturated ethanoylcoumarin fluorophore. The limit of detection (LOD) is found to be as low as 5 × 10 M, which is superior to most reported fluorescent probes to detect HS. Furthermore, the wide pH range of 4-11 makes it capable of application in biological systems. Most importantly, MTT assays and cell imaging experiments indicate that probe DHC has hypotoxicity and outstanding membrane permeability, which makes DHC successful imaging of HS in Baby Hamster Syrian Kidney (BHK) cells.