A compact fluorescent probe based on o-phthalaldehyde for ultrasensitive detection of hydrazine in gas and solution phases

Because of the high toxicity of hydrazine, the development of ultrasensitive fluorescent probes for hydrazine has been challenging. In this work, an ultrasensitive fluorescent probe based on o-phthalaldehyde has been exploited for hydrazine. The probe was designed based on creating an efficient fluorophore by incorporating hydrazine into o-phthalaldehyde framework via an intermolecular condensation-cyclization reaction. The probe could quickly detect hydrazine and displayed a high sensitivity for hydrazine with a LOD of 1.9 nM (0.06 ppb), which is far below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard (10 ppb). Moreover, the probe was successfully applied to the detection of hydrazine in real water samples and hydrazine vapor.