Nitric oxide sensitive fluorescent polymeric hydrogels showing negligible interference by dehydroascorbic acid

[Display omitted] •A series of new polymeric hydrogels sensitive to nitric oxide have been synthesized.•The developed materials have detection limits towards NO in the nanomolar range.•The new polymeric sensors show negligible interference by dehydroascorbic acid. A series of nitric oxide (NO) sensitive polymeric hydrogels have been synthesized and their properties described. The new materials are based on a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) matrix entrapping the DAF-FM (4-amino-5-methylamino-2′,7′-difluorofluorescein) fluorescent probe. Some of the developed materials show sensitivities in the range ca. 50–75nM towards NO dissolved in aerated phosphate buffer (PBS), being nitrous anhydride the reactive species under such conditions. Remarkably, the sensitivity of the fluorescent polymers is not influenced by dehydroascorbic acid, a molecule of biological importance, which has been reported to be a common interfering species capable to react with well known probes for NO.