A novel acylhydrazone-based fluorescent sensor NATB was designed and synthesized for consecutive sensing of Al3+ and H2PO4−. NATB displayed fluorometric sensing to Al3+ and could sequentially detect H2PO4− by fluorescence quenching. The limits of detection for Al3+ and H2PO4− were determined to be 0.83 and 1.7 μM, respectively. The binding ratios of NATB to Al3+ and NATB-Al3+ to H2PO4− were found to be 1:1. The sequential recognition of Al3+ and H2PO4− by NATB could be repeated consecutively. In addition, the practicality of NATB was confirmed with the application of test strips. The sensing mechanisms of Al3+ and H2PO4− by NATB were investigated through fluorescence and UV–Visible spectroscopy, Job plot, ESI-MS, 1H NMR titration, and DFT calculations.
An indole-based fluorescent chemosensor IH-Sal was synthesized to detect Zn2+. IH-Sal displayed a marked fluorescence increment with Zn2+. The detection limit (0.41 μM) of IH-Sal for Zn2+ was greatly below that suggested by the World Health Organization. IH-Sal can quantify Zn2+ in real water samples. More significantly, IH-Sal could determine and depict the presence of Zn2+ in zebrafish. The detecting mechanism of IH-Sal toward Zn2+ was illustrated by fluorescence and UV–visible spectroscopy, DFT calculations, 1H NMR titration and ESI mass.
An effective colorimetric chemosensor, 2,4‐dichloro‐6‐((E)‐(((Z)‐3‐methylbenzo[d]thiazol‐2(3H)‐ylidene)hydrazono)methyl)phenol (HMD), was synthesised for Cu2+ detection. HMD with benzothiazole moiety showed a large bathochromic shift (153 nm) and a definite colour change for Cu2+. HMD could detect Cu2+ down to 0.47 μmol/L in the solution phase and could clearly distinguish it from other metal ions, even in the test strip. The binding mode between HMD and Cu2+ was determined to be 1:1 using Job plot and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. The sensing mechanism of HMD for Cu2+ was illustrated as the combination of metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer and intramolecular charge transfer via theoretical calculation.
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