N-Aryl-DABCO Salts as an Unprecedented Sensing Platform for the Detection of Thiols and Selenols

Quaternary N-aryl-DABCO salts were introduced for the first time as a highly selective sensing platform for thiols and selenols. By employing this platform, a highly sensitive coumarin based "off-on" fluorescent probe was designed and synthesized. The probe possesses a good solubility in water, low background fluorescence, and, most importantly, demonstrates high selectivity to aryl thiols and selenols over their aliphatic counterparts and other common nucleophiles. A dramatic increase in fluorescence intensity is achieved through the selective cleavage of the quaternized DABCO-ring, yielding a piperazine derivatives with a high fluorescence quantum yield (~72 %). Moreover, stability of the probe to the most used reducing agents DTT and TCEP was demonstrated. The limits of detection for p-thiocresol and phenyl selenide were evaluated to be 22 nM and 6 nM, respectively.

Two red/blue-emitting fluorescent probes for quick, portable, and selective detection of thiophenol in food, soil and plant samples, and their applications in bioimaging

Thiophenol (PhSH), which is widely used in many industries, poses significant health risks owing to its acute toxicity and irritating effects. Thus, the detection of PhSH is crucial for ensuring environmental and food safety. There is significant room for improvement in the sensing properties of the reported analytical methods, such as response time, detection limit, selectivity, and portable detection. Herein, we present two new red/blue fluorescence-emissive sensors (NS1 and NS2) for PhSH detection. After reacting with PhSH, NS1 exhibited a low detection limit (66.7 nM), red emission, fast response time of just 10 s, and large Stokes shift (240 nm). NS2 could detect PhSH with a low detection limit (75.8 nM), fast response time of 20 s, and blue emission. The noticeable color response and portability of the two probes made them suitable for on-site detection of PhSH in various samples, such as water, soil, plant, food samples, and living cells. Moreover, it has been shown that these probes could be used to determine PhSH content in smartphone applications, thin layer chromatography kits, and polysulfone capsule kits. Prepared probes have low cytotoxicity and show good permeability in tested living cells, which is important for early diagnosis, disease research, and emergency analysis. Compared with other studies, the proposed approach has remarkable advantages in terms of detection limit, portability, response time, and low cytotoxicity. Thus, it meets the crucial demand for ensuring health, environmental and food safety, and adherence to regulatory standards.

Rational construction of reliable fluorescent probes for rapid detection and imaging evaluation of hazardous thiophenol in real-food and biosystems

Thiophenol (PhSH), a highly reactive aromatic thiol, plays an essential role as a common industrial raw material in food, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. In this work, we designed and constructed two fluorescent probes CM-PhSH and CM-Ratio-PhSH by a rational strategy. Specifically, coumarin fluorophores with excellent optical properties were modified, and olefinic unsaturated bonds served as reaction sites for the detection of PhSH. Based on this, the introduction of the nitro group at specific positions of the CM-PhSH changed the fluorescence emission of the CM-Ratio-PhSH, eventually obtaining a novel ratiometric fluorescent probe CM-Ratio-PhSH for PhSH detection. Surprisingly, these two probes exhibited advantages such as high specificity and low limit of detection (LOD) for CM-PhSH 32.3 nM and CM-Ratio-PhSH 40.2 nM, respectively. Furthermore, subsequent experiments demonstrated CM-PhSH and CM-Ratio-PhSH could be successfully used for highly selective and rapid detection of PhSH in aqueous solutions, live cells, and complex food samples.

ESIPT-based fluorescent enhanced probes prompted by methylated β-cyclodextrin for the detection of thiophenols

Thiophenol and its derivatives are compounds with high toxicity to organisms and environmental pollution, so it is necessary to detect the level of thiophenols in the environment and biological samples. The probes 1a-b were obtained by introducing the 2,4-dinitrophenyl ether group into diethylcoumarin-salicylaldehyde based compounds. And they can form host-guest compounds with methylated β-cyclodextrin (M-β-CD), the association constants of inclusion complexes are 49.2 M-1, 125 M-1 respectively. The fluorescence intensities of probes 1a-b at 600 nm (1a) and 670 nm (1b) increased significantly in thiophenols detection. Meanwhile, with the addition of M-β-CD, the hydrophobic cavity of M-β-CD significantly increased the fluorescence intensity of probes 1a-b, thus the detection limits of probes 1a-b to thiophenols were reduced from 410 nM, 365 nM to 62 nM, 33 nM respectively. Whereas, the good selectivity and short response time of probes 1a-b towards thiophenols was not affected in the presence of M-β-CD. Moreover, probes 1a-b were used for further water sample detection and HeLa cell imaging experiments due to their good response to thiophenols and the results suggested that probes 1a-b had the potential to detect the content of thiophenols in water samples and living cells.

A water-soluble fluorescent probe for the detection of thiophenols in water samples and in cells imaging

Water pollution is the main cause of death of aquatic organisms such as fish et al. Content of thiophenols in water samples is an important indicator for assessing the degree of water pollution. The development of fluorescent probes with high selectivity and high sensitivity to detect thiophenols in water samples is extremely important in both environmental and life sciences. Although several fluorescent probes for thiophenols detection have been reported in recent years, most of them required the assistance of organic solvents to remedy the restriction caused by the poor water solubility of the probe, which did not fully reflect the actual situation of thiophenols in actual water samples. To fully overcome this shortage, we modified the 1,8-naphthylimide moiety with carboxyl to obtain a water-soluble fluorescent probe which could react with thiophenols specifically through nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction (S_NAr) reaction with turn-on fluorescent responses. The corresponding detection limit was 71 nM. Supported by the spectroscopic changes, test strips based on the probe could detect thiophenols quantificationally and conveniently. At the same time, the probe could detect thiophenols in water sample with quantitative recovery. Besides, cell imaging experiments demonstrated the possibility of the probe to detect thiophenols in living cells.

Thiophenol detection using an AIE fluorescent probe through self-assembly with TPE-based glycoclusters

We describe a novel green-emitting tetraphenylethylene-dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran (TPE-DCM) based fluorescent probe (TD-1). Conjugating TPE and DCM moieties allowed TD-1 to display high selectivity for thiophenol with excellent AIE properties in aqueous solution. Nevertheless, the poor water solubility of the hydrophobic structure resulted in a weak and unstable emission intensity. The non-covalent self-assembly of TD-1 with a TPE glycocluster (TPE2S) led to a largely improved water solubility producing a reliable and stable sensing system. The corresponding glyco-probe could sensitively detect exogenous thiophenol concentrations in PBS buffer or environmental water samples.

Recent Progress in the Development of Fluorescent Probes for Thiophenol

Thiophenol (PhSH) belongs to a class of highly reactive and toxic aromatic thiols with widespread applications in the chemical industry for preparing pesticides, polymers, and pharmaceuticals. In this review, we comprehensively summarize recent progress in the development of fluorescent probes for detecting and imaging PhSH. These probes are classified according to recognition moieties and are detailed on the basis of their structures and sensing performances. In addition, prospects for future research are also discussed.

Rapid and selective detection of biothiols by novel ruthenium(II) complex-based phosphorescence probes

Considering the excellent photochemical properties of ruthenium(II) complexes, two new ruthenium(II) complexes, RuL¹-DNBS and RuL²-DNBS, have been developed as phosphorescence probes for detection of biothiols in 100:1 (v/v) Hepes buffer (20 mM, pH = 7.2)/CH₃CN solution. The response rate was highly improved of these two probes toward biothiols because the steric interactions between 1H-imidazo [4, 5-f] [1,10] phenanthroline group and ortho-2, 4-dinitrobenzensulfonate resulted in a relatively rapid thiol-induced S_NAr substitution reaction. RuL¹-DNBS and RuL²-DNBS were weakly phosphorescent owing to the effectual photoinduced electron transfer from ruthenium(II) luminophore to the sensing group, 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl. After reacting with biothiols, the 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl group of RuL¹-DNBS and RuL²-DNBS were cleavaged and the RuL¹ and RuL² were obtained. Meanwhile, the phosphorescence were "turn-on". Both of these two probes can detect biothiols sensitively and selectively under physiological conditions with submicromolar detection limits. Furthermore, application of RuL²-DNBS for detecting of intracellular biothiols has been successfully performed in living Glioma cells.

A water-soluble and highly specific fluorescent probe for imaging thiophenols in living cells and zebrafish

A water-soluble and highly specific fluorescent probe was developed to track thiophenols in living cells and zebrafish.

Two-isophorone fluorophore-based design of a ratiometric fluorescent probe and its application in the sensing of biothiols

A newly designed ratiometric fluorescent probe is applied in the sensing of biothiols.