Mitochondria-Targeted Reaction-Based Fluorescent Probe for Hydrogen Sulfide

In this study, we developed a turn-on mitochondria-targeting hydrogen sulfide, “probe 1”, based on the selective thiolysis of 7-nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole amine moiety attached to the piperazine-based naphthalimide scaffold. Probe 1 exhibited excellent properties with 68-fold fluorescence enhancement, a low detection limit (2.46 μM), a low cytotoxicity, and a good selectivity toward hydrogen sulfide. The success of intracellular imaging indicated that probe 1 could be used in further applications for the investigation of biological functions and pathological roles of H2S in living systems.