In view of the significant role of reactive sulfur species (RSS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in maintaining the redox homeostasis of organisms, we proposed a colorimetric fluorescent probe (HTN) for reversible detection of HSO3−/H2O2 and effective discrimination of HSO3−/ClO−. C = C is the active site for the Michael addition of HSO3− and the oxidation of ClO−. When HTN interacts with HSO3− and ClO−, it exhibits fluorescence quenching. The addition of oxidizing H2O2 to the system can restore the conjugate structure of the addition product of HSO3− (HTN-HSO3−) and the fluorescence recovery, but it cannot restore the structure of the oxidation product of ClO− (HTN-ClO−). By studying the change of the reversibility/non-reversibility of the probe structure with the addition of H2O2, the purpose of reversible detection of HSO3−/H2O2 and distinguishing HSO3−/ClO− is achieved. In addition, HTN can not only be used as a fluorescent ink to detect HSO3− on the test paper, but also has excellent detection effect on HSO3− and ClO− in real food samples and water samples. Meantime, HTN has good biocompatibility and can target mitochondria to achieve reversible detection of HSO3−/H2O2 and effective discrimination of HSO3−/ClO− in living cells. Therefore, HTN has great potential as a molecular tool for studying redox homeostasis in the interaction network of complex living systems.
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