A novel coumarin-based fluorescence chemosensor for Fe3+

Abstract

A novel coumarin derivative[7-diethylamino-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylic acid(6-amino-pyridin-2-yl)-amide, CFe1] has been synthesized and its potential application as a chemosensor for the detection of metal ions has been further investigated. The responses of CFe1 to Fe3+ were studied by fluorescence emission spectrometry in the presence of other metal ions such as Al3+, Ba2+, Ca2+, Co3+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Hg2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Na+, Ni+, Pb2+, Zn2+, K+, and Ag+. CFe1 showed a good selectivity for Fe3+ with fast response, a wide pH span of 3.3–9.18, and a large Stocks shift. CFe1 in the presence of Fe3+ and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid(EDTA) makes the blue solution fade to colorless, which is due to the formation of CFe1-Fe3+ complex instead of any catalytic action of Fe3+. Furthermore, the imaging of Fe3+ in cultured single mice microglia cells was realized with the aid of CFe1, indicating that CFe1 has a great potential to be used as promising models for the future design of novel and robust chemosensor for metal ion detection in the field of biomedical and environmental analyses.