Carbazole based fluorescent chemosensor for the meticulous detection of tryptamine in aqueous medium and its efficacy in cell-imaging and molecular logic gate

Abstract

A trenchantly intended active moiety (E)-2-(((9-ethyl-9H-carabazol-3-yl) imino) methyl)-4, 6-diiodophenol (CS) was synthesized for the expeditious detection of tryptamine (TA) under aqueous medium by means of fluorescent chemosensor methodology. The outstanding sensing performance of CS chemosensor displays instant response, remarkable selectivity and sensitivity towards TA. Job’s plot annotated that the stoichiometry between CS and TA is in 1:1 ratio and CS can detect TA as low as 0.6 μM. Beguilingly, FT-IR studies, 1HNMR titration, HR-MS and theoretical studies were also executed as an evidence for the binding nature of CS with tryptamine, which attributes turn-on fluorescence by the repression of ESIPT. Importantly, this is the first report on fluorescence cell imaging in HeLa cells for tryptamine detection and CS can be utilized for portraying molecular logic gate circuits. This preeminence makes CS as a great potential outlook for multitudinous aspects.