Responsive lanthanide coordination polymer for hydrogen sulfide.

Metal organic coordination polymers have received great attention because of their flexible compositions and architecture. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a responsive lanthanide coordination polymer (LCP) for hydrogen sulfide (H2S), utilizing self-assembling of biomolecule nucleotide with luminescent terbium ion (Tb(3+)) and sensitizing silver ion (Ag(+)) in aqueous solution. LCP is highly fluorescent due to the inclusion of Ag(+) ions, which sensitized the fluorescence of Tb(3+) ions. H2S can strongly quench the fluorescence of LCP through its high affinity for Ag(+) ions. Such configurated LCP material from initial building blocks showed high sensitivity and selectivity for H2S and was applied to the determination of H2S in human serum. LCP with Tb(3+) ions also has a long fluorescence lifetime, which allows for time-resolved fluorescence assays, possessing particular advantages to probing H2S in biological systems with autofluorescence.