Coumarin-based Fluorescent Probes for H2S Detection

Although hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) has been known as a toxic gas with unpleasant rotten egg smell, the correlation between H₂S and physiological processes has attracted scientists to develop brand new methods to monitor such a gaseous molecule in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we described a couple of coumarin-based fluorescent probes (1a and 1b) that can be activated by reduction of azide to amine in the presence of H₂S. It should be emphasized that probe 1b demonstrated high selectivity and sensitivity for H₂S over other relevant reactive sulfur species in vitro, as well as identified exogenous H₂S in living cells.