Selective Aminothiazole‐Derivative Probe for Detection of Phosphate in Freshwater

Abstract

Phosphate anions have been used in agriculture, the food industry, and cleaning products, and their excess causes eutrophication of drinking water and aquatic systems, affecting the entire aquatic ecosystem. This study developed an aminothiazole-derivative selective probe to recognize phosphate, even in high levels of contaminants, through hydrogen donor groups using UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopies to overcome the challenges. Chemosensors 1 depicted high sensibility and selectivity for PO 4 3À anion demonstrated by the UV-Vis; the limit of detection (LOD) for PO 4 3À (2.4 × 10 À 7 mol dm À 3 ) validated it as a chemosensor with low concentrations detection for anions, and 1 was utilized to detect and analyze real water samples with recoveries of 91 % and 109 %. NMR titrations confirmed that the binding mechanism of the chemosensors 1 occurred by hydrogen bonding of the NH amide group with that ion. Chemosensor 1 exhibited a low-cost, easy-to-use, and selective phosphate detection in freshwater, even in high nitrite and nitrate anions concentrations in eutrophic environments.