Fluorescence sensor for sequential detection of zinc and phosphate ions

Miran An; Bo-Yeon Kim; Hansol Seo; Aasif Helal; Hong-Seok Kim

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2016.06.026

Fluorescence sensor for sequential detection of zinc and phosphate ions

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2016 Dec 5:169:87-94. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2016.06.026. Epub 2016 Jun 18.

Authors

Miran An¹, Bo-Yeon Kim¹, Hansol Seo¹, Aasif Helal², Hong-Seok Kim³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
² Center of Research Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: Aasifh@kfupm.edu.sa.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kimhs@knu.ac.kr.

PMID: 27343439
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2016.06.026

Abstract

A new, highly selective turn-on fluorescent chemosensor based on 2-(2'-tosylamidophenyl)thiazole (1) for the detection of zinc and phosphate ions in ethanol was synthesized and characterized. Sensor 1 showed a high selectivity for zinc compared to other cations and sequentially detected hydrogen pyrophosphate and hydrogen phosphate. The fluorescence mechanism can be explained by two different mechanisms: (i) the inhibition of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and (ii) chelation-induced enhanced fluorescence by binding with Zn(2+). The sequential detection of phosphate anions was achieved by the quenching and subsequent revival of ESIPT.

Keywords: Fluorogenic chemosensor; Phosphate; Sequential recognition; Thiazole sulfonamide; Zinc.