Phenanthroimidazole-based fluorescence probe for discriminative detecting of hydrazine and bisulfite and its applications in environmental samples

Hydrazine (N 2 H 4 ) and bisulfite (HSO 3 – ) detection methods are urgently needed due to its harmful to the human health and environment safety. Herein, we reported a dual-response fluorescence probe EPC , which is capable of sequential detection of N 2 H 4 and HSO 3 – by two different fluorescence signals. The probe EPC itself showed yellow florescence. In presence of N 2 H 4 , probe EPC exhibited an obviously fluorescence change (from yellow to green). However, a new addition product came into being after probe EPC mixed with HSO 3 – , followed with weak yellow emission. More important, probe EPC exhibited excellent fluorescence response properties for N 2 H 4 and HSO 3 – , such as high sensitivity (0.182 µM for N 2 H 4 , 0.093 µM for HSO 3 – ), rapid response (55 s for N 2 H 4 , 45 s for HSO 3 – ), excellent selectivity and anti-interference performance. The sensing mechanisms for N 2 H 4 and HSO 3 – were proved by 1 H NMR and MS spectra. Practical applications were studied. EPC based test paper can be utilized for quantitative detecting N 2 H 4 in actual water samples. And, probe EPC has been successfully applied to recognize N 2 H 4 contaminant in soil samples. Moreover, EPC has great potential to be used to detect HSO 3 – in real food samples.