A highly sensitive ratiometric fluorescent probe based on fluorescein coumarin for detecting hydrazine in actual water and biological samples

Hydrazine (N 2 H 4 ) is a highly toxic and harmful chemical reagent. Fluorescent probes are simple and efficient tools for sensitive monitoring of N 2 H 4 enrichment in the environment, humans, animals, and plants. In this work, a ratiometric fluorescent probe (FP-1) containing coumarin was used for hydrazine detection. The proposed FP-1 probe had a linear detection range of 0–250 μM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.059 μM (1.89 ppb). A large red Stokes shift was observed in fluorescence and UV–vis absorption spectra due to the hydrolysis of ester bonds between FP-1 and hydrazine. The hydrazine detection mechanism of FP-1 was also investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Finally, FP-1 could sensitively and selectively monitor hydrazine in actual water samples and BEAS-2B cells. Therefore, it has great application potential in environmental monitoring and disease diagnosis.