A FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for hydrazine and its application in living cells

[Display omitted] •A ratiometric fluorescent probe (CFAc) for hydrazine was developed based on FRET mechanism for the first time. This probe was based on a coumarin–dichlorofluorescein platform.•CFAc showed clear dual-emission signal changes in blue and green channels upon addition of hydrazine under a single wavelength excitation. It exhibits high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, desirable performance to hydrazine at physiological pH in vitro.•Further, it showed low cytotoxicity and was successfully applied to dual-channel imaging of hydrazine in living cells. A ratiometric fluorescent probe (CFAc) for hydrazine was developed based on a FRET mechanism for the first time. This probe was constructed on a new coumarin–dichlorofluorescein platform. It showed clear dual-emission signal changes in blue and green channels upon addition of hydrazine under a single wavelength excitation. Probe CFAc exhibited high sensitivity, excellent selectivity and desirable performance to hydrazine at physiological pH in vitro. Further, it showed low cytotoxicity and was successfully applied to dual-channel imaging of different hydrazine concentrations in living cells.