Investigation of a sensing approach based on a rapid reduction of azide to selectively measure bioavailability of H2S

Abstract

A new reaction-based sensor (AHS) was synthesized for quantitative detection of H₂S. AHS showed a high selectivity and sensitivity toward H₂S over other thio-containing molecules, or reducing reagents with high abundance in living cells. In the presence of H₂S, significant fluorescence enhancement (17-fold) was observed due to the reduction of the azide on AHS. The absorption (362 nm) and fluorescence emission (557 nm) of reduced AHS showed a highly linear correlation to H₂S level, which were used to measure concentration of H₂S in the range of 0–100 μM.