Acetyl group assisted rapid intramolecular recognition of hydrogen peroxide: A novel promising approach for efficient hydrogen peroxide probe

A novel promising approach for efficient hydrogen peroxide probe. [Display omitted] •The probe was highly selective to H2O2 over other ROS.•The detection limits were calculated to be 7.0 × 10-8 M or even lower.•The probe can successfully track and image organ damage caused by the drug in vivo.•Water samples and test paper experiments were successfully implemented to practical application. As a vital biomolecule, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is involved in many physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, it is important to detect H2O2 in vivo conveniently and efficiently. In this paper, we report a new method of nucleophilic addition of H2O2 to the acetyl group to promote the rapid intramolecular reaction, which can be used to develop an efficient H2O2 probe. Based on this unique auxiliary recognition part, a fluorescent probe for H2O2 detection was designed and synthesized. This probe has the advantages of high sensitivity (limits of detection 7.0 × 10-8 M or even lower.), fast response (within 3 min) and large Stokes shift (225 nm), which not only can monitor exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in cells but also successfully achieves the change of endogenous H2O2 level caused by drug sexual organ injury in zebrafish.