Fast responding and selective near-IR Bodipy dye for hydrogen sulfide sensing

A Bodipy based, highly selective probe for hydrogen sulfide has been designed, synthesized and demonstrated to detect H2S in living cells. In this design, the reduction of two arylazido groups change the charge transfer characteristics of the 3,5-distyryl substituents on the Bodipy core, producing a 20 nm bathochromic spectral shift in the absorption band, and quenching of the emission by 85% compared to the original intensity, through photoinduced electron transfer.