Double-site-based a smart fluorescent sensor for logical detecting of sulphides and its imaging evaluation of living organisms

Thiophenol and hydrosulphite are a group of toxic environmental pollutants, which contaminate land, water and food exhibiting a serious risk to human health. Herein, we reported a xanthene dye-based sensor (DSF) with dual well-known response sites for visual detecting PhSH and HSO3-. Specifically, when DSF reacted with PhSH firstly, the color of the solution changed to blue with bright red fluorescence emission. After added with HSO3-, the color of the solution became yellow, and emitted yellow fluorescence signal. However, DSF was first added with HSO3-, the color of the solution changed to purple with no-fluorescence emission, and then PhSH was added, the color of the solution changed to yellow with a bright yellow fluorescence. Notably, DSF exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity for PhSH and HSO3- detection with a very low detection limits of 2.27 nM and 22.91 nM, respectively. More importantly, DSF could detect PhSH and HSO3- in water, real-food and biological systems. Therefore, the experimental results showed DSF as a robust new logical monitoring tool for the detection of PhSH and HSO3- in water, real-food samples and biological systems.