A fluorescent probe showed high selectivity and sensitivity for an organoarsenic blister agent simulant, arsenic trichloride.

No abstract

The rapid, selective, and sensitive determination of cyanide anion (CN −) using a simple paper strip is highly attractive because cyanide is acutely lethal to living organisms via all routes of administration, including alcohol consumption and inhaling cigarette smoke. Here, a synthetic probe (1) was designed for the selective determination of cyanide. The probe displays rapid and large blue spectral change (Δλabs =148 nm, Δλem = 165 nm) with respect to target recognition. Probe 1 exhibits a strong push–pull electronic effect and comprises a dimethylaminoaryl group as a donor and malononitrile as an acceptor; the π‐conjugation system can be destroyed by the Michael‐type addition of cyanide at the electrophilic β‐positions of the nitrile groups, resulting in the marked emergence of a peak at λem = 515 nm. The developed probe was successfully applied to a paper test strip because of its noticeable optical changes upon reaction with cyanide. The fabricated dumbbell‐shaped paper strip with an internal reference allowed the cyanide detection, which is indispensable for quantitative analysis in point‐of‐care testing. The paper strip test showed selective response to cyanide, with a linear correlation in the range of 0–25 mM in a simple and cost‐effective manner.