A Meldrum's acid-based covalent-assembly fluorescent probe for detecting PhSH in environmental waters and living cells

Le résumé fourni par la source

Thiophenols, which are widely used in chemical and pharmaceutical industries, pose significant environmental and health hazards due to their high toxicity and volatility. Herein, we introduce CA-PhSH , a covalent-assembly fluorescent probe that leverages a Meldrum's-acid-based thiophenol-triggered nucleophilic substitution followed by rapid intramolecular cyclization to build the coumarin reporter in situ. This trigger-to-fluorophore strategy suppresses background signal prior to activation and thereby enhances practical selectivity in aqueous media. CA-PhSH demonstrated a rapid response (<2 min) and a low detection limit (LOD) of 44.9 nM, exhibiting high selectivity against potential interferents. The probe exhibits high stability over a broad pH range and retains functionality in complex matrices. Application to real environmental water samples yielded satisfactory recovery rates (84–104 %), confirming the probe's analytical robustness. Furthermore, cellular bioimaging experiments in 4T1 cells (mouse mammary tumor cells) revealed the probe's excellent biocompatibility and its ability to detect exogenous thiophenols in living systems. These dual environmental-bioimaging validation underscore the novelty and practical significance of CA-PhSH for thiophenol detection.

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