Highly selective hydrazone based reversible colorimetric chemosensors for expeditious detection of CN− in aqueous media

A colorimetric and turn-on fluorescent sensor for cyanide and acetate-based Schiff base compound of 2,2'-((1E,11E)-5,8-dioxa-2,11-diazadodeca-1,11-diene-1,12-diyl)bis(4-((E)-phenyldiazenyl)phenol)

A novel Schiff base-based sensor (L) has been designed, synthesized, and developed as a fluorescent and colorimetric sensor for cyanide and acetate. This L exhibited a quick response with rapid sensitivity to CN^- and AcO^- through a remarkable color change from yellow to red which was detectable by the naked eyes. It also sensed CN^- and AcO^- in a fluorescent way via an enhancement in fluorescence intensity. The interaction between L and anions (CN^- and AcO^-) was investigated by using UV-Vis studies, and ¹H NMR titration. The theoretical DFT calculations were also employed to support the results, which displayed good agreement with the experimental value acquisition. As the detection limit for cyanide and acetate were 2.1 × 10^-9 M and 1.7 × 10^-9 M; respectively, low concentrations of these anions could be detectable in the proposed L sensor. In addition, L showed significant reversibility of CN^- detection by using Cu²⁺ as a proper reagent with two different sensing methods including color change and UV-Vis. Last but not least, L could be applied to rapidly detect CN^- in a wide range of pH. As a result, the proposed sensor is promising to identify cyanide and acetate in practical applications in medical, biological, and chemical fields.

Naked-eye colorimetric and turn-on fluorescent Schiff base sensor for cyanide and aluminum (III) detection in food samples and cell imaging applications

A new efficient Schiff base sensor SB3 for fluorescent and colorimetric "naked-eye" "turn-on" sensing of cyanide anion (CN^-) with excellent sensitivity and selectivity was developed. The 4,4'-(perfluoropropane-2,2-diyl)bisphenol group and two phenyl groups were covalently linked by two C = N bonds to extend the conjugation length. The four hydroxyl groups can improve the water solubility of the SB3 sensor. The SB3 sensor exhibited high specificity towards CN^- by interrupting its intramolecular charge transfer, resulting in a color change and remarkable "turn-on" green fluorescence emission. The sensing mechanism is caused by the nucleophilic addition of CN- toward imine groups of the SB3 sensor, leading to breaks of the conjugation, fluorescent spectral changes, and color change. It was confirmed by ¹H NMR titration and Mass spectra. The detection limits for CN^- and Al³⁺obtained by fluorescence spectrum are 0.80 µM and 0.25 µM, respectively. The SB3 sensor can act as an efficient chemical sensor for detecting the CN^- and Al³⁺ ions under common environmental and physiological conditions (pH 5-12). Besides, the sensor can also detect CN^- in food materials (such as sprouting potatoes and cassava flour) and imaging CN^-in living cells with strong "turn-on" fluorescence at 490 nm. SB3 is an excellent CN^- sensor that exhibits some advantages, including easy synthesis, distinct fluorescence and color change, high selectivity, low detection limit, and good anti-interference ability to analyze solution and food samples, together with fluorescence cell imaging.

2-Aminophenols based Schiff bases as fluorescent probes for selective detection of cyanide and aluminium ions - Effect of substituents

Three Schiff base based probes are designed and synthesized by facile condensation of a commercially available fluorophore 2,6-diformyl-4-tert-butylphenol with 4-nitro-2-aminophenol (KP1), 2-aminophenol (KP2) and 4-tert-butyl-2-aminophenol (KP3) and are characterized using various spectral techniques. The probes exhibit high selectivity and sensitivity CN^- and Al(III) ions with striking fluorescent signaling responses in H₂O-DMSO (1:1, v/v) medium. The mechanism of the probes' detection of CN involves deprotonation of the phenolic OH group(s) followed by nucleophilic addition of CN^- onto imine C-atom. The ¹H NMR chemical shifts of the OH protons of 2-aminophenol moiety exhibits a linear correlation with the Hammett's substituent constants (σ_p), yielding a positive reaction constant (ρ). In KP1, the electron-withdrawing nitro substituent polarizes the imine bond to a larger extent than in KP2, resulting in easier addition of CN^- to imine C-atom. The electron releasing tert-Bu substituent in KP3 produces the opposite effect leading to a sluggish addition reaction. The separately populated HOMO and LUMO in KP1 and a relatively lower HOMO-LUMO energy gap indicate substantial intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) character, leading to weak fluorescence emission. The large reduction in HOMO-LUMO energy gap, in KP1, upon addition of cyanide is responsible for the greater enhancement in fluorescence with blue shift upon addition of CN^-. Formation of tetrahedral Probe-Al(III) complex prevents the isomerization of imine bond, leading to enhancement in fluorescence and contribution from chelation enhanced fluorescence. As these probes show very low limits of detection of these ions, their practical utility has also been demonstrated.

Two novel tetraphenylethylene-skeleton salamo-type fluorescent probes: specific recognition of cyanide through different response patterns

The possible sensing mechanism of probes TPES1 and TPES2 towards CN− ions.

A dual colorimetric chemosensor for Hg(ii) and cyanide ions in aqueous media based on a nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD)-antipyrine conjugate with INHIBIT logic gate behaviour

In this work, we have synthesized nitrobenzoxadiazole-antipyrine conjugate 1 from chloro substituted nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) with 4-aminoantipyrine by an elegant method which provides good yield and it is characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The sensing ability of compound 1 is analyzed with the addition of different metal ions and anions in an aqueous methanol medium. It shows rapid colorimetric response for Hg²⁺ and CN^- ions over a wide range of competitive metal ions and anions. On addition of Hg²⁺/CN^- ions, 1 shows a distinct color change from pale yellow to pink and orange red, respectively, thus permitting chemosensor 1 to be used for 'naked eye' detection of Hg²⁺ and CN^- ions. The change in spectral features and color of 1 with the addition of Hg²⁺ and CN^- ions is mainly due to the formation of a charge-transfer complex (1₂-Hg²⁺) and cyanide ion induced deprotonation of 1. The interaction between the Hg²⁺/CN^- ion and 1 is characterized by mass spectrometry and ¹H-NMR spectral titrations. In addition, sensor 1 is reversible and reusable and it can be developed as an INHIBIT type logic gate. Compound 1 detects Hg²⁺ and CN^- ions upto 2.57 × 10^-8 M and 1.67 × 10^-7 M, respectively. Further, compound 1 pre-coated test strips detect Hg²⁺ and CN^- ions and they provide a simple and convenient method for determination of Hg²⁺/CN^- ions.

Chromogenic hydrazide Schiff base reagent: Spectrophotometric determination of CN- ion

A Schiff base reagent, Picolinohydrazide-naphthol (HL), is used for trace level detection of toxic CN^- selectively in presence of eighteen other anions (SCN^-, OCN^-, S₂O₃^2-, HPO₄^2-, H₂PO₄^-, I^-, ClO₄^-, HSO₄^-, SO₄^2-, AsO₄^3-, NO₂^-, AsO₂^-, Cl^-, F^-, HF₂^-, NO₃^-, Br^-, N₃^-) by visual color change, colorless to yellow, in DMSO/H₂O (9:1, v/v) at pH, 7.2 (HEPES buffer) medium. The sensitivity of the probe shows that the limit of detection (LOD) is 7.08 μM. The probable mechanism for the sensing behavior involves the deprotonation of naphthol-OH by CN^- that has been authenticated by ¹H NMR titration and Mass spectra. The composition (1:1 mol ratio) is supported by Job's plot and binding constant (K_a, 1.5 × 10⁴ M^-1) is reported by Benesi-Hildebrand plot. Furthermore, a simple paper strip device is fabricated for the determination of CN^- ion in water. DFT computation is carried out to explain the electronic spectral feature of the sensor.

Copper Complex-Embedded Vesicular Receptor for Selective Detection of Cyanide Ion and Colorimetric Monitoring of Enzymatic Reaction

Detection of environmentally important ion cyanide (CN^-) has been done by a new method involving displacement of both metal and indicator, metal indicator displacement approach (MIDA) on the vesicular interface. Terpyridine unit was selected as the binding site for metal (Cu²⁺), whereas Eosin-Y (EY) was preferred as an indicator. About 150 nm sized nanoscale vesicular ensemble (Lip-1.Cu) has shown good selectivity and sensitivity for CN^- without any interference from other biologically and environmentally important anions. Otherwise, copper complexes are known for the interferences of binding with phosphates and amino acids. The Lip-1.Cu nanoreceptor also has the possibility to be used for real-time colorimetric scanning for the released HCN via enzymatic reactions. Lip-1.Cu has several superiorities over the other reported sensor systems. It has worked in 100% aqueous environment, fast response time with colorimetric monitoring of enzymatic reaction, and low detection limit.

Switching to a “turn-on” fluorescent probe for selective monitoring of cyanide in food samples and living systems

A “turn-on” fluorescent probe was designed by changing the structure of a “turn-off” probe for monitoring cyanide in food samples and living systems.

A dual-mode highly selective and sensitive Schiff base chemosensor for fluorescent colorimetric detection of Ni2+ and colorimetric detection of Cu2

In this paper, a novel flexible Schiff base chemosensor N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)-2-(benzamido)benzohydrazide (L) has been designed, synthesised and characterised by 1H-NMR, IR spectroscopy, ESI-MS spectrometry and single crystal XRD analysis. A significant fluorescence enhancement of L was observed only in the presence of Ni2+ ions with a detection limit of 3.64 μM whereas Cu2+ induced fluorescence quenching, although both the metals showed colorimetric responses in methanol-Tris-HCl buffer (10 mM, pH 7.2) solution (1 : 1, v/v). The single crystal structure of L-Cu2+ has also been determined. No major interference by the other effective background cations (Fe3+, Fe2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Pb2+, Cr3+, Ag+, Al3+ and Mn2+) was observed even at a higher concentration of analytes. The experimental results were further supported by DFT studies. The chemosensor L can be applied to the formation of binary logical devices, recovery of contaminated water samples and living intracellular media.

A dipodal molecular probe for naked eye detection of trivalent cations (Al3+, Fe3+and Cr3+) in aqueous medium and its applications in real sample analysis and molecular logic gates

A simple and low cost multifunctional colorimetric receptor L has been designed, synthesized and characterized by 1H-NMR, IR spectroscopy, ESI-MS spectrometry and elemental analysis. The chemosensor L can selectively detect three biologically and environmentally important trivalent metal ions (Al3+, Fe3+and Cr3+) both visually and spectrophotometrically in CH3CN-H2O (1 : 1, v/v) solution in the presence of other biologically relevant metal ions. The Job's plot analyses indicate the 2 : 2 binding stereochemistry for Al3+, Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions with L, which was further confirmed by 1H-NMR and ESI-MS studies. The binding constant values were found to be 2.9 × 104 M-1 for Al3+, 1.079 × 105 M-1 for Fe3+ and 1.366 × 105 M-1 for Cr3+ respectively. The detections limits of the sensor for Al3+ (2.8 × 10-7 M), Fe3+ (1.9 × 10-7 M) and Cr3+ (2.5 × 10-7 M) are far below than the limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water. Moreover, colorimetric test kits for rapid detection of Al3+, Fe3+, and Cr3+ could be successively applied for all practical purposes, indicating its potential use in environmental samples. It has also been used in building molecular logic gates.