Dual signaling of hydrazine by selective deprotection of dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetatesDedicated to Professor Andrew D. Hamilton on the occasion of his 60th birthday.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional chemosignaling behaviors of dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetates and 1H and 13C NMR spectra of F1, F2 and R2. See DOI: 10.1039/c3ob40091c

The highly selective chemosignaling behaviors for hydrazine by a reaction-based probe of dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetates were investigated. Hydrazinolysis of latent dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetate fluorochromes caused prominent chromogenic and fluorescent turn-on type signals. The probes selectively detected hydrazine in the presence of commonly encountered metal ions and anions as background. Dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetates selectively detected hydrazine with detection limits of 9.0 × 10 −8 M and 8.2 × 10 −7 M, respectively. Furthermore, hydrazine was selectively detected over other closely related compounds, such as hydroxylamine, ethylenediamine, and ammonia. As a possible application of the acetate probes, hydrazine signaling in tap water was tested. Highly selective chemosignaling behaviors toward hydrazine of a reaction-based probe of dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetates were investigated. Hydrazinolysis of latent dichlorofluorescein and resorufin acetates revealed prominent chromogenic and fluorogenic signaling.