Aside from the practical application of this reaction in medicinal chemistry and natural product synthesis, recent work has also used the Tsuji–Trost reaction to detect palladium in various systems. This detection system is based on a non-fluorescent fluorescein-derived sensor (longer-wavelength sensors have also recently been developed for other applications) that becomes fluorescent only in the presence of palladium or platinum.
This palladium/platinum sensing ability is driven by the Tsuji–Trost reaction. The sensor contains an allyl group with the fluorescein functioning as the leaving group. The -allyl complex is formed and after a nucleophile attacks, the fluorescein is released, yielding a dramatic increase in fluorescence.
This simple, high-throughput method to detect palladium by monitoring fluorescence has been shown to be useful in monitoring palladium levels in metal ores, pharmaceutical products, and even in living cells. With the ever-increasing popularity of palladium catalysis, this type of quick detection should be very useful in reducing the contamination of pharmaceutical products and preventing the pollution of the environment with palladium and platinum.