We have designed and synthesised a novel fluorescent probe with a tetraphenylethylene (TPE) scaffold as an active fluorescent unit and thiosemicarbazide (TSC) group as a recognition unit. The probe, TPE-TSC, exhibited superior selectivity towards hypochlorite (ClO-) with a low limit of detection (2.0 nM). It also demonstrated a turn-off response for a brief period (<30 s) via an oxidation reaction. Furthermore, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) revealed that TPE-TSC reacted with ClO- by forming a carboxylic acid moiety in nearly 100% aqueous environments. More significantly, the probe detected ClO- in disinfectant, spiked milk samples, and spiked water samples. In all, TPE-TSC proposes an optimistic approach precisely for the determining the quality of milk and water contaminated with ClO- and trace amounts of ClO- in disinfectants.
Keywords: Dairy products analysis; Fluorescent probe; Hypochlorite detection; Tetraphenylethylene; Thiosemicarbazone.
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