Development of a facile and sensitive fluorimetric derivatization reagent for detecting formaldehyde

Abstract

Formaldehyde is one of the main environmental pollutants and has significant impacts on human health. Herein, we developed a derivatization reagent for detecting formaldehyde rapidly, facilely and sensitively. Upon the introduction of formaldehyde, the reagent exhibited significant enhancement in fluorescence spectra at room temperature within 9 minutes, and the enhanced green fluorescence could be easily observed by the naked eye. Compared with other relevant analytes such as H₂S, CO, NO and benzene, only formaldehyde could elicit the obvious increase in fluorescence. Furthermore, we prepared fluorescent test papers with the reagent and demonstrated their application for the detection of formaldehyde qualitatively.