Detection of hydrogen sulfide by a novel quinolone-based “turn-on” chemosensor in aqueous solution

Abstract A novel quinolone-based fluorescent chemosensor 1 was designed and synthesized for hydrogen sulfide. Distinct “turn-on” fluorescence enhancement of 1 was observed upon the addition of S 2 − in aqueous solution. Sensor 1 showed high sensitivity toward S 2 − with the detection limit of 7.0 μM. The recognition properties of sensor 1 toward S 2 − were studied by using photophysical experiments and its reaction-based sensing mechanism was supported by ESI-mass spectroscopy analysis. Practically, the sensing ability of 1 for S 2 − was successfully applied in real water samples.