A new fluorescent sensor bearing three dansyl fluorophores for highly sensitive and selective detection of mercury(II) ions

摘要

A novel fluorometric sensor bearing three dansyl moieties based on tris[2-(2-aminoethylthio)ethyl]amine was prepared by a simple approach using a conventional two-step synthesis. The sensor exhibits highly Hg~(2+)-selective ON-OFF fluorescence quenching behavior in aqueous acetonitrile solutions and is shown to discriminate various competing metal ions, particularly Cu~(2+), Ag~+, and Pb~(2+) as well as Ca~(2+), Cd~(2+), Co~(2+), Fe~(3+), Mn~(2+), Na~+, Ni~(2+), and Zn~(2+), with a detection limit of 1.15 x 10~(-7) M or 23 ppb.