Novel 2‑Benzo[d]thiazolyl-4-quinolinylphenol Skeleton-Based Turn-on Fluorescent Probe for H2S Detection and its Multiple Applications in Water Environment, Foodstuffs, and Living Organisms

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has comprehensive contributions to maintaining the normal operation and stability of organisms, and it also occurs in the wastewater environment and is related to the deterioration of foodstuffs. Therefore, developing high-sensitive detection techniques for tracing H2S is promising and meaningful. Inspired by this, a novel nopinone-based fluorescent probe NPS for the recognition of H2S was designed and synthesized with excellent sensitivity, low limit of detection (79 nM), good selectivity, and wide pH range (5–9). NPS could emit strong yellow fluorescence and its emission intensity showed a remarkable augmentation at 520 nm upon the supplement of H2S. Furthermore, the recognition mechanism of NPS for H2S was verified by the HRMS analysis, 1H NMR spectra titration, and DFT computation. What is more, NPS also had broad applications in the monitoring of real water samples, red wine, beer, and eggs samples, which showed its development prospect and value in environmental pollution, foodstuffs quality analysis fields. NPS also was applied to monitor trace exogenous H2S and bioimaging in living cells and zebrafish.