Abstract
Zinc plays a key role in many physiological processes and has implications for the environment. Consequently, detection of chelatable zinc ion (Zn2+) has attracted widespread interest from the research community. Lanthanide-based luminescent probes offer particular advantages, such as high water solubility, long luminescence lifetimes and a large Stokes’ shift, over common organic dye-based fluorescent sensors. Here, we report the synthesis of terbium and europium complex-based probes, Tb-1 and Eu-1, for sensitive and selective detection of Zn2+ in water. These probes featured the incorporation of bis(2-pyridylmethyl)]amine (DPA) receptor for Zn2+ chelation and the 1,4,7-tris(carboxymethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (DO3A) ring to chelate lanthanide (Ln3+). Tb-1 and Eu-1 displayed high selectivity for Zn2+ ions over a wide range of competing ions, with limits of detection of 0.50 ± 0.1 μM and 1.5 ± 0.01 μM, respectively. Density functional theory simulations were in good agreement with experimental observations, displaying high Zn2+ selectivity compared with most competing ions. In the competing ions experiments, the luminescence response of Tb-1 and Eu-1 was moderately quenched by some ions such as Cu2+, this was linked to the comparable binding abilities of these ions for the receptor of the probe.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1238-1247 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Luminescence |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords
- europium complex
- luminescent probe
- terbium complex
- zinc chemosensor
- zinc ions
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Chemistry (miscellaneous)