A dual-functional fluorescence probe bearing thiocoumarin ethylene-bridge dicyanopyrone skeleton for detection hydrogen sulfide and hypochlorous acid.

Due to the vital roles of hydrogen sulfide and hypochlorous acid in beverage, food, pathology and physiology, the real-time and in situ detection of them have attracted a lot of interest. Herein, a dual-functional fluorescence probe CS was developed containing ethylene-bridge bond of electron donor diethylaminocoumarin and electron acceptor 2-(2,6-dimethyl-4H-pyran-4-ylidene)malononitrile unit. CS exhibited a high specificity, sensitivity (detection limit: 21.64 nM for H2S, 0.26 μM for HClO) and rapid response (within 180 s for H2S, 25 s for HClO) with a large Stokes shift (125 nm) and good photostability. Meaningfully, the detection mechanism of HClO involved cleavage of N, N-dimethylthiocarbamate and oxidation bridging of ethylene bonds, ultimately forming a unique thiophene ring process. CS has been applied for simultaneous detection of H2S and HClO in beverage and food samples. Furthermore, the specific response property of CS for visualization of endogenous and exogenous HClO in cells and mice made it as a powerful tool for investigating a diverse array of HClO-related physiological and pathological processes.