Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is commonly known as a toxic gas with the odor of rotten eggs, but is hypothesized to be the third endogenous gaseous neurotransmitter after nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), with many unexplored signaling functions in the human body. Because of its unexplored roles, developing sensitive H2S probes is of benefit for exploring bodily H2S functions. Based on our prior creation of a turn-off fluorescent Schiff base sensor for cyanide (CN-) detection, similar probes were synthesized with Disperse Orange 3 and 4-Nitrobenzaldehyde forming one probe and with 1,5-Diaminonaphthalene and 4-Nitrobenzaldehyde forming a second. Aqueous H2S, of which the majority is found as S2-, reduces the nitro groups on the probes into primary amine groups, causing turn-on fluorescence. Both probes were characterized with 1H-NMR, and the process of optimizing solvent ratio, fluorescence excitation wavelength, and incubation time and temperature were carried out with the first probe. Likely due to the small Stokes' shift and the interference between the fluorescence excitation beam and emission, the fluorescence output of the first probe did not directly correlate to the [H2S] as was expected. The process of optimizing the fluorescence response in both probes is currently in progress.

Towards the creation of turn-on fluorescent Schiff base probes for hydrogen sulfide detection

255th National Meeting (2018)

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