Recent progress in the development of fluorescent probes for hydrazine.

Hydrazine (N2 H4 ) is an important and commonly used chemical reagent for the preparation of textile dyes, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and so on. Despite its widespread industrial applications, hydrazine is highly toxic and exposure to this chemical can cause many symptoms and severe damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. As a consequence, many efforts have been devoted to the development of fluorescent probes for the selective sensing and/or imaging of N2 H4 . Although great efforts have been devoted in this area, the large number of important recent studies have not yet been systematically discussed in a review format so far. In this review, we have summarized the recently reported fluorescent N2 H4 probes, which are classified into several categories on the basis of the recognition moieties. Moreover, the sensing mechanism and probes designing strategy are also comprehensively discussed on aspects of the unique chemical characteristics of N2 H4 and the structures and spectral properties of fluorophores.

A highly selective and ratiometric fluorescent probe for cyanide by rationally altering the susceptible H-atom.

A highly selective and ratiometric fluorescent probe for cyanide was rationally designed and synthesized. The probe comprises a fluorophore unit of naphthalimide and a CN- acceptor of methylated trifluoroacetamide group. For these previous reported trifluoroacetamide derivative-based cyanide chemosensors, the H-atom of amide adjacent to trifluoroacetyl group is susceptible to be attacked by various anions (CN- itself, F-, AcO-, et al.) and even the solvent molecule, which resulted in the bewildered reaction mechanism and poor selectivity of the assay. In this work, the susceptible H-atom of trifluoroacetamide was artfully substituted by alkyl group. Thus a highly specific fluorescent probe was developed for cyanide sensing. Upon the nucleophilic addition of cyanide anion to the carbonyl of trifluoroacetamide moiety of the probe, the ICT process of the probe was significantly enhanced and leading to a remarkable red shift in both absorption and emission spectra of the probe. This fluorescent assay showed a linear range of 1.0-80.0µM and a LOD (limit of detection) of 0.23µM. All the investigated interference have no influence on the sensing behavior of the probe toward cyanide. Moreover, by coating on TLC plate, the probe can be utilized for practical detection of trace cyanide in water samples.

A benzothiazole-based fluorescent probe for hypochlorous acid detection and imaging in living cells.

A benzothiazole-based turn-on fluorescent probe with a large Stokes shift (190nm) has been developed for hypochlorous acid detection. The probe displays prompt fluorescence response for HClO with excellent selectivity over other reactive oxygen species as well as a low detection limit of 0.08µM. The sensing mechanism involves the HClO-induced specific oxidation of oxime moiety of the probe to nitrile oxide, which was confirmed by HPLC-MS technique. Furthermore, imaging studies demonstrated that the probe is cell permeable and can be applied to detect HClO in living cells.