Ratiometric H2S probe that can be recognized by the naked eye and its application in cell imaging

A ratiometric dual-mode probe NI-SH based on 1,8-Naphthalimide was prepared for H2S detection. When treated with H2S, the fluorescence of NI-SH changes from blue (456 nm) to green (540 nm), and displays significant color variation (colorless to yellow) that can visible to the naked eye. Further investigation shows that the NI-SH has high sensitivity, selectivity, and low detection limit at about 0.2 μM, and with large Stokes shift (84 nm). The intermolecular charge transfer (ICT) response mechanism of NI-SH was further studied by analyzing the distributions of the molecular orbital. Besides, NI-SH exhibits a ratiometric fluorescence response in living Hela cells.