A turn-on fluorescent probe for the detection of hydrogen sulfide and thiophenol in water and beer samples

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and thiophenol (PhSH) are toxic pollutants that can affect the quality and safety of food and water. It is of importance to detect these analytes. However, developing fluorescent probes that can selectively discriminate H 2 S and PhSH is challenging due to their similar reactivity. In this work, we reported a dual-functional probe N -(4-(benzo[ d ]thiazol-2-yl)phenyl)− 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonamide ( NBT ) that could synchronously and selectively respond to H 2 S and PhSH in different solvents. NBT exhibited high selectivity, a low detection limit (82.66 nM for H 2 S, 21.44 nM for PhSH), and a wide linear range (5–70 μM for H 2 S, 5–35 μM for PhSH). Therefore, NBT was successfully applied to detect H 2 S and PhSH in water and beer samples with excellent recovery and precision. This probe provides a simple and effective method for the simultaneous and quantitative detection of H 2 S and PhSH in water and beer samples without the need for sophisticated instruments.