Bisulfite and sulfite
(HSO3–/SO32–) are not only widely used toxic chemicals
but also active anions with important biological functions. Hence,
the development of new detection methods for HSO3–/SO32– is important for environmental
security and human health. In this paper, we report a symmetrical
hemicyanine for the detection of HSO3–/SO32–, SHC, which is constructed
with p-diphthalaldehyde with trimethylbenzoindolium
via condensation. The red fluorescent probe can fast respond to HSO3–/SO32– (<30
s) to give cyan fluorescence, and its sensing process is twice nucleophilic
additions, which were observed from fluorescence response, initial
ratiometric change, and subsequent turn-on increment; especially in
a low-concentration level, the ratiometric fluorescence measurement
can eliminate environmental interference. This probe can achieve a
quantitative detection of HSO3–/SO32– in a wide concentration range. Furthermore,
the probe SHC is a mitochondria-specific probe for ratiometric
fluorescent detection of HSO3–/SO32– in living cells.