o-Fluorination of aromatic azides yields improved azido-based fluorescent probes for hydrogen sulfide: synthesis, spectra, and bioimaging
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Synthesis of pH Dependent Pyrazole, Imidazole, and Isoindolone Dipyrrinone Fluorophores using a Claisen-Schmidt Condensation Approach
Published on: June 10, 2021
1State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry and Department of Chemical Biology, National Pesticide Engineering Research Center (Tianjin), Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071 (P. R. China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin).
Abstract:
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an endogenously produced gaseous signaling molecule with multiple biological functions. To visualize the endogenous in situ production of H2S in real time, new coumarin- and boron-dipyrromethene-based fluorescent turn-on probes were developed for fast sensing of H2S in aqueous buffer and in living cells. Introduction of a fluoro group in the ortho position of the aromatic azide can lead to a greater than twofold increase in the rate of reaction with H2S. On the basis of o-fluorinated aromatic azides, fluorescent probes with high sensitivity and selectivity toward H2S over other biologically relevant species were designed and synthesized. The probes can be used to in situ to visualize exogenous H2S and D-cysteine-dependent endogenously produced H2S in living cells, which makes them promising tools for potential applications in H2S biology.
Related Concept Videos
Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution: Fluorination and Iodination of Benzene
Preparation and Reactions of Sulfides
Aryldiazonium Salts to Azo Dyes: Diazo Coupling
Diazonium Group Substitution with Halogens and Cyanide: Sandmeyer and Schiemann Reactions
Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Aryldiazonium Salts: Aromatic SN1
In the Sandmeyer reaction, for example, the diazonio group is replaced by a chloro, bromo,...
Amines to Sulfonamides: The Hinsberg Test
Generally, a primary amine reacts with the Hinsberg reagent to produce an N-substituted benzenesulfonamide. The electron-withdrawing sulfonyl...

