Hydrazine exposure: A near-infrared ICT-based fluorescent probe and its application in bioimaging and sewage analysis.

Hydrazine (NH) is an environment pollutant with high acute toxicity and potential carcinogenicity, and detection of NH has attracted increasing attention. In the present study, a low toxicity near-infrared fluorescent probe (DCDB) based on the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) principle was developed. The probe DCDB exhibits excellent selectivity and high sensitivity (LOD = 1.27 ppb) for NH, fast reaction rate (5 min), extremely large Stokes shift (160 nm). The color transformation of the DCDB-NH system from purple to pink can be observed with the naked eye. The success of NH test strips to detect trace NH in actual sewage strongly illustrates the practical application potential of DCDB. Importantly, DCDB can be utilized to monitor the distribution of exogenous NH in vivo and in vitro.