A dual-channel chemosensor based on 8-hydroxyquinoline for fluorescent detection of Hg2+ and colorimetric recognition of Cu2

Huie Jiang; Danni Tang; Zhijian Li; Junwei Li; Hanbin Liu; Qingjun Meng; Qingxin Han; Xinhua Liu

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.118784

A dual-channel chemosensor based on 8-hydroxyquinoline for fluorescent detection of Hg²⁺ and colorimetric recognition of Cu²

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Dec 15:243:118784. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118784. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Authors

Huie Jiang¹, Danni Tang², Zhijian Li², Junwei Li², Hanbin Liu², Qingjun Meng², Qingxin Han², Xinhua Liu³

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemistry and Materials Engineering, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, PR China.. Electronic address: jianghe07@126.com.
² College of Bioresources Chemistry and Materials Engineering, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, PR China.
³ College of Bioresources Chemistry and Materials Engineering, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, PR China.. Electronic address: liuxinhua@sust.edu.cn.

PMID: 32799194
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118784

Abstract

A novel dual-channel chemosensor, 7-allylquinolin-8-ol (AQ), was synthesized based on 8-hydroxyquinoline for selective fluorescence detection of Hg²⁺ and colorimetric recognition of Cu²⁺. The chemosensor reacted with Hg²⁺ and generated a new Hg-containing compound with significantly enhanced fluorescence, which turned from faint blue to strong green. Further experiments indicated that AQ could be used to quantitatively detect Hg²⁺ via fluorescence spectroscopy with a low detection limit (2.1 nM). The good reversibility of the synthesized chemosensor was also demonstrated using NaBH₄. Moreover, AQ was successfully used for the detection of Cu²⁺ through the formation of a stable coordination compound, which exhibited an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) ratiometric change, while its color changed from colorless to pale yellow under natural light. Additional experiments using various Cu²⁺ concentrations showed that the developed chemosensor could be further employed for the quantitative ratiometric estimation of Cu²⁺ by UV-Vis.

Keywords: Chemosensor; Colorimetric; Cu(2+); Dual-channel; Fluorescence; Hg(2+).