G. Emandi, Keith J. Flanagan, M. Senge
Oct 1, 2018
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0
Influential Citations
25
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Journal
Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences
Abstract
We report 4-(2-(5-( tert -butyl)-3-formyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)-1 H -phenanthro[9,10- d ]imidazol-1-yl)benzoic acid 1 and 4-(2-(5-( tert -butyl)-3-formyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-diphenyl-1 H -imidazol-1-yl)benzoic acid 2 as reversible luminescent sensors for the detection of cyanide and mercury ions. These imidazole derivatives were characterized using spectroscopic techniques and single crystal X-ray crystallography. The compounds showed sensing exclusively towards CN^− ions, which resulted in the quenching of fluorescence and a decreased singlet state life time. The detection limit of imidazole derivatives 1 and 2 were found to be 0.8 μM and 1.2 μM respectively, in a CH_3CN/H_2O system. Job's plot analysis, ^1H NMR spectra and LC-MS studies supported the formation of the respective cyanohydrin. This cyanohydrin was further used as a reversible sensor for the detection of Hg^2+ ions through metal-assisted elimination. The reversibility and reusability of sensors for the detection of CN^− and Hg^2+ ions were tested for four consecutive cycles.