A dual-response fluorescent probe for detection and bioimaging of hydrazine and cyanide with different fluorescence signals

Due to favourable efficiency and low cost, dual-response fluorescent probes play critical roles in the development of fluorescence assay system. Herein, a novel dual-response fluorescent probe (RDCN) was designed and synthesized for the detection of two environmental contaminants: hydrazine (N2H4) and cyanide (CN−). Probe RDCN exhibited discriminative sensing behaviors to N2H4 and CN− with different reaction mechanisms, allowing the high selectivity and sensitivity detection for N2H4 and CN−. The probe itself displayed red-emitting fluorescence as a result of strong intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) between diethylamino and dicyano. After mixing with hydrazine, a new corresponding hydrazone came into being with an intense yellow fluorescence. While, the probe could also largely switch to blue fluorescence in response to CN−. Furthermore, the probe RDCN was successfully employed to determine N2H4 and CN− in water samples with the detection limits of 0.08 μM and 0.33 μM, and to visualize N2H4 and CN− in live cells by means of different fluorescence channels (blue and yellow channels), revealing that probe RDCN has potential applications for discriminative detection N2H4 and CN− in biological environment.