An ultrasensitive fluorescent probe for hydrazine detection and its application in water samples and living cells

Abstract Hydrazine, as a strong reducing agent, has been extensively used in many industrial manufactures. However, it is a potential human carcinogen and an environmental contaminant due to its high toxicity. Therefore, developing an ultrasensitive method for determining hydrazine in real water and biosystems is of great significance. Herein, based on coumarin dye, a turn-on fluorescent probe Cou-1-N 2 H 4 , which contains an acetyl group as the trigger unit and the fluorescence quencher, is developed. The probe can achieve a rapid (3min) and colorimetric sensing detection for hydrazine with an extremely low limit detection (11.9 nM or 0.38 ppb). More importantly, the practical utilities of probe have been successfully proved through quantitative N 2 H 4 detection in environmental water samples and bioimaging of N 2 H 4 in living cells.