A simple thiocarbazone-appended coumarin derivative 1 with high selectivity as a ratiometric fluorescence sensor towards Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ in a semi-aqueous solution was synthesised and characterised. Upon the addition of Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ , the emission of 1 solution undergoes a blue and red shift to 480 and 545 nm according to the intense blue and yellow colour under a 365-nm ultraviolet lamp, respectively. Binding was confirmed by ultraviolet-visible absorption analysis, fluorescence measurement, mass spectrometry, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier Transform-infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculation. The results show that 1 coordinated with Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ in different modes, resulting in different ratiometric fluorescence responses. The detection limits of the sensor 1 for Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ were 100.8 and 11.5 nM, respectively. The association constants (K a ) of Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ with 1 were determined to be 5.59 × 10 4 and 5.08 × 10 4 M −1 , respectively. Fluorescent microscopy experiments demonstrated that probe 1 has the potential to be used to monitor Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ in living cells.