N-(9-Anthrylmethyl)amines which combine a fluorescent subunit and a chelate forming fragment have revealed a signal switching property in an aqueous solution upon complexation (off) with Cu(II) and liberation (on) of the probe molecule by substitution with an other ligand. The ligand exchange reaction between N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate), a typical herbicide, with N-(9-anthrylmethyl)amines on Cu(II) ion leads the fluorescence signal intensity to revive, providing an indirect detection system of glyphosate available in water of neutral pH region. The present system has been applied to the post column detection in the ion chromatographic separation of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA).