A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution

The development of chemosensors able to detect analytes in a variety of sample matrices through a low-cost, fast, and direct approach is of current interest in food, health, industrial, and environmental fields. This contribution presents a simple approach for the selective and sensitive detection o...

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Main Authors: Ivan Pietro Oliveri, Agostino Attinà, Santo Di Bella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/3925
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author Ivan Pietro Oliveri
Agostino Attinà
Santo Di Bella
author_facet Ivan Pietro Oliveri
Agostino Attinà
Santo Di Bella
author_sort Ivan Pietro Oliveri
collection DOAJ
description The development of chemosensors able to detect analytes in a variety of sample matrices through a low-cost, fast, and direct approach is of current interest in food, health, industrial, and environmental fields. This contribution presents a simple approach for the selective and sensitive detection of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions in aqueous solution based on a transmetalation process of a fluorescent substituted Zn(salmal) complex. Transmetalation is accompanied by relevant optical absorption changes and quenching of the fluorescence emission, leading to high selectivity and sensitivity of the chemosensor, with the advantage of not requiring any sample pretreatment or pH adjustment. Competitive experiments demonstrate a high selectivity of the chemosensor towards Cu<sup>2+</sup> with respect to the most common metal cations as potential interferents. A limit of detection down to 0.20 μM and a dynamic linear range up to 40 μM are achieved from fluorometric data. By exploiting the fluorescence quenching upon formation of the copper(II) complex, simple paper-based sensor strips, visible to naked eyes under UV light, are used for the rapid, qualitative, and quantitative in situ detection of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions in aqueous solution over a wide concentration range, up to 10.0 mM, in specific environments, such as in industrial wastewater, where higher concentrations of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions can occur.
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spelling doaj.art-d8269b4761b94cb2b6df9acd86ecfbdd2023-11-17T21:16:35ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-04-01238392510.3390/s23083925A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous SolutionIvan Pietro Oliveri0Agostino Attinà1Santo Di Bella2Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, I-95125 Catania, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, I-95125 Catania, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, I-95125 Catania, ItalyThe development of chemosensors able to detect analytes in a variety of sample matrices through a low-cost, fast, and direct approach is of current interest in food, health, industrial, and environmental fields. This contribution presents a simple approach for the selective and sensitive detection of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions in aqueous solution based on a transmetalation process of a fluorescent substituted Zn(salmal) complex. Transmetalation is accompanied by relevant optical absorption changes and quenching of the fluorescence emission, leading to high selectivity and sensitivity of the chemosensor, with the advantage of not requiring any sample pretreatment or pH adjustment. Competitive experiments demonstrate a high selectivity of the chemosensor towards Cu<sup>2+</sup> with respect to the most common metal cations as potential interferents. A limit of detection down to 0.20 μM and a dynamic linear range up to 40 μM are achieved from fluorometric data. By exploiting the fluorescence quenching upon formation of the copper(II) complex, simple paper-based sensor strips, visible to naked eyes under UV light, are used for the rapid, qualitative, and quantitative in situ detection of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions in aqueous solution over a wide concentration range, up to 10.0 mM, in specific environments, such as in industrial wastewater, where higher concentrations of Cu<sup>2+</sup> ions can occur.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/3925Zn(salen-type) complexesfluorescent chemosensorpaper-based sensor stripstransmetalationCu<sup>2+</sup> detection
spellingShingle Ivan Pietro Oliveri
Agostino Attinà
Santo Di Bella
A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
Sensors
Zn(salen-type) complexes
fluorescent chemosensor
paper-based sensor strips
transmetalation
Cu<sup>2+</sup> detection
title A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
title_full A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
title_fullStr A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
title_full_unstemmed A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
title_short A Zinc(II) Schiff Base Complex as Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution
title_sort zinc ii schiff base complex as fluorescent chemosensor for the selective and sensitive detection of copper ii in aqueous solution
topic Zn(salen-type) complexes
fluorescent chemosensor
paper-based sensor strips
transmetalation
Cu<sup>2+</sup> detection
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/3925
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