Discriminative ‘Turn-on’ Detection of Al3+ and Ga3+ Ions as Well as Aspartic Acid by Two Fluorescent Chemosensors

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 4; p. 1798
• Main Authors: Goyal, Hina, Annan, Ibrahim, Ahluwalia, Deepali, Bag, Arijit, Gupta, Rajeev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 06.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: AIEE; aluminum; Alzheimer's disease; Amino acids; Anthracene; Aspartic acid; Chemical sensors; Chemoreceptors; Fluorescence lifetime sensing devices; Imines; Mass spectra; Polystyrene resins; Quinoline; Schiff base; sensing; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23041798

In this work, two Schiff-base-based chemosensors L1 and L2 containing electron-rich quinoline and anthracene rings were designed. L1 is AIEE active in a MeOH-H2O solvent system while formed aggregates as confirmed by the DLS measurements and fluorescence lifetime studies. The chemosensor L1 was used for the sensitive, selective, and reversible ‘turn-on’ detection of Al3+ and Ga3+ ions as well as Aspartic Acid (Asp). Chemosensor L2, an isomer of L1, was able to selectively detect Ga3+ ion even in the presence of Al3+ ions and thus was able to discriminate between the two ions. The binding mode of chemosensors with analytes was substantiated through a combination of 1H NMR spectra, mass spectra, and DFT studies. The ‘turn-on’ nature of fluorescence sensing by the two chemosensors enabled the development of colorimetric detection, filter-paper-based test strips, and polystyrene film-based detection techniques.