A highly selective fluorescent chemosensor for Fe (III) based on rhodamine 6G dyes derivative

Abstract

A new fluorescent probe L based on the rhodamine 6G platforms for Fe3+ has been designed and synthesised. L showed excellent selectivity and high sensitivity for Fe3+ against other metal ions such as K+, Na+, Ag+, Cu2+, Co2+, Mg2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Hg2+, Ce3+ and Y3+ in HEPES buffer (10 mM, pH 7.4)/CH3CN (40:60, V/V). The distinct color change and the rapid emergence of fluorescence emission provided naked-eyes detection for Fe3+. The recognition mechanism of the probe toward Fe3+ was evaluated by Job’s plots, IR and ESI-MS. In order to further study their fluorescent properties, L + Fe3+ fluorescence lifetime was also measured. Moreover, the test strip results showed that these probes could act as a convenient and efficient Fe3+ test kit.