A water soluble light activated hydrogen sulfide donor induced by an excited state meta effect

Abstract

We have utilized an m-amino benzyl based photoremovable protecting group (PRPG) to develop a new water soluble H₂S donor. It efficiently releases H₂S on demand in a spatio-temporally controlled fashion by an excited state “meta effect” with good chemical and photochemical quantum yield in an aqueous environment. The efficient photorelease of H₂S under physiological conditions was also demonstrated by in vitro studies.