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A rhodamine-based Hg2+-selective fluorescent probe in aqueous solution

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Abstract

A new rhodamine-based Hg2+-selective fluorescent probe (I) was designed and synthesized. Compound I displays excellent selective and sensitive response to Hg2+ over other transition metal ions in neutral aqueous solutions. I itself is a colorless, nonfluorescent compound. Upon addition of Hg2+ to its solution, the thiosemicarbazide moiety of I undergoes an irreversible desulfurization reaction to form the corresponding 1,3,4-oxadiazole (II), a colorful and fluorescent product, causing instantaneous development of visible color and strong fluorescence emission. Based on this mechanism, a fluorogenic probe for Hg2+ was developed. The fluorescence increases linearly with the Hg2+ concentration up to 0.8 μmol L−1 with the detection limit of 9.4 nmol L− (3σ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Science, Department of Chemistry, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Minglei Zhao, Xiao-Feng Yang, Shenfeng He & Liping Wang

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  1. Minglei Zhao
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  2. Xiao-Feng Yang
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  3. Shenfeng He
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  4. Liping Wang
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Correspondence to Xiao-Feng Yang.

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Zhao, M., Yang, XF., He, S. et al. A rhodamine-based Hg2+-selective fluorescent probe in aqueous solution. Chem. Pap. 63, 261–267 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-009-0016-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-009-0016-8

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