Nickel(II) Dithiocarbamate Complexes Containing Sulforhodamine B as Fluorescent Probes for Selective Detection of Nitrogen Dioxide

We synthesized complexes of Ni­(II)
with dithiocarbamate ligands
derived from the ortho and para isomers of sulforhodamine B fluorophores
and demonstrated they are highly selective in reactions with nitrogen
dioxide (NO2). Compared with the para isomer, the ortho
isomer showed a much greater fluorescence increase upon reaction with
NO2, which led to oxidation and decomplexation of the dithiocarbamate
ligand from Ni­(II). We applied this probe for visual detection of
1 ppm NO2 in the gas phase and fluorescence imaging of
NO2 in macrophage cells treated with a nitrogen dioxide
donor.