skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Progress toward colorimetric and fluorescent detection of carbonyl sulfide
We report here that a fluorescent benzobisimidazolium salt (TBBI) can be used for the fluorescent and colorimetric detection of carbonyl sulfide (COS) over related heterocumulenes including CO 2 and CS 2 in wet MeCN. The reaction between TBBI and COS in the presence of fluoride yields a highly fluorescent ( λ em = 354 nm) and colored product ( λ max = 321, 621 nm), that is readily observed by the naked eye. We view these results as a first step toward developing activity-based probes for COS detection.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1625529
PAR ID:
10309028
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Chemical Communications
Volume:
56
Issue:
67
ISSN:
1359-7345
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. A neutral hexacoordinate silicon complex containing two 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2′-yl)pyridine (bzimpy) ligands has been synthesized and explored as a potential electron transport layer and electroluminescent layer in organic electronic devices. The air and water stable complex is fluorescent in solution with a λ max = 510 nm and a QY = 57%. Thin films grown via thermal evaporation also fluoresce and possess an average electron mobility of 6.3 × 10 −5 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . An ITO/Si(bzimpy) 2 /Al device exhibits electroluminescence with λ max = 560 nm. 
    more » « less
  2. Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is an important cellular signaling molecule that exhibits promising protective effects. Although a number of triggerable H 2 S donors have been developed, spatiotemporal feedback from H 2 S release in biological systems remains a key challenge in H 2 S donor development. Herein we report the synthesis, evaluation, and application of caged sulfenyl thiocarbonates as new fluorescent H 2 S donors. These molecules rely on thiol cleavage of sulfenyl thiocarbonates to release carbonyl sulfide (COS), which is quickly converted to H 2 S by carbonic anhydrase (CA). This approach is a new strategy in H 2 S release and does not release electrophilic byproducts common from COS-based H 2 S releasing motifs. Importantly, the release of COS/H 2 S is accompanied by the release of a fluorescent reporter, which enables the real-time tracking of H 2 S by fluorescence spectroscopy or microscopy. Dependent on the choice of fluorophore, either one or two equivalents of H 2 S can be released, thus allowing for the dynamic range of the fluorescent donors to be tuned. We demonstrate that the fluorescence response correlates directly with quantified H 2 S release and also demonstrate the live-cell compatibility of these donors. Furthermore, these fluorescent donors exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in RAW 264.7 cells, indicating their potential application as new H 2 S-releasing therapeutics. Taken together, sulfenyl thiocarbonates provide a new platform for H 2 S donation and readily enable fluorescent tracking of H 2 S delivery in complex environments. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract The first near IR fluorescent probe for the chemoselective and enantioselective recognition of arginine in aqueous solution is reported in this work. This probe, made of a 1,1’‐binaphthyl‐based chiral aldehyde unit and a rhodamine‐based near IR chromophore, in combination with La3+exhibits highly chemoselective as well as enantioselective fluorescent enhancement with arginine at λ=764 nm upon excitation at λ=690 nm. Little or no fluorescent response is observed toward the chirality miss‐matched arginine enantiomer or other common amino acids and their enantiomers. This probe also allows visual discrimination of the arginine enantiomers because of its fast and distinct color change upon interaction with the substrate. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract DNA‐templated silver nanoclusters (AgNC@DNA) are a novel type of nanomaterial with advantageous optical properties. Only a few atoms in size, the fluorescence of nanoclusters can be tuned using DNA overhangs. In this study, we explored the properties of AgNCs manufactured on a short single‐stranded (dC)12when adjacent G‐rich sequences (dGN, withN = 3–15) were added. The ‘red’ emission of AgNC@dC12with λMAX = 660 nm dramatically changed upon the addition of a G‐rich overhang with NG = 15. The pattern of the emission–excitation matrix (EEM) suggested the emergence of two new emissive states at λMAX = 575 nm and λMAX = 710 nm. The appearance of these peaks provides an effective way to design biosensors capable of detecting specific nucleic acid sequences with low fluorescence backgrounds. We used this property to construct an NA‐based switch that brings AgNC and the G overhang near one another, turning ‘ON’ the new fluorescence peaks only when a specific miRNA sequence is present. Next, we tested this detection switch on miR‐371, which is overexpressed in prostate cancer. The results presented provide evidence that this novel fluorescent switch is both sensitive and specific with a limit of detection close to 22 picomoles of the target miR‐371 molecule. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract CRISPR‐based biosensors often rely on colorimetric, fluorescent, or electrochemical signaling mechanism, which involves expensive reporters and/or sophisticated equipment. Here, we demonstrated a simple, inexpensive, nonoptical, and sensitive CRISPR‐Cas12a‐based sensing platform to detect ssDNA targets by sizing double‐stranded λ DNA as novel report molecules. In this platform, the size reduction of λ DNA was quantified by gel electrophoresis analysis. We hypothesize that the massivetrans‐nuclease activity of Cas12a toward λ DNA is due to the presence of single‐stranded looped structures along the λ DNA sequence. In addition, we observed a strong binding affinity between Cas12a and λ DNA, which further promotes thetrans‐cleavage activity and helps achieve sub‐picomolar detection sensitivity, ≈100 times more sensitive than the fluorescent counterpart. The concept of utilizing the physical size change of λ DNA unlocks the possibility of using a variety of dsDNA as CRISPR reporters. 
    more » « less