Discovery of a novel camphor-based fluorescent probe for Co2+ in fresh vegetables with high selectivity and sensitivity

• Published in: Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, 2021-03, Vol.248, p.119213, Article 119213
• Main Authors: Liu, Haochuang, Li, Mingxin, Zhang, Yan, Yang, Haiyan, Yang, Yiqin, Xu, Xu, Wang, Zhonglong, Wang, Shifa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Camphor; Co2; Fluorescence probe; Turn-off response; Vegetables
• ISSN: 1386-1425
• DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.119213

[Display omitted] •A novel fluorescent probe PDS based on camphor was designed and synthesized.•The probe PDS was used for highly sensitive and specific detection of Co2+ within a short time.•The probe PDS could successfully detect Co2+ both in real water samples and in fresh vegetables. Cobalt is an essential micronutrient for human beings. The excessive intake of cobalt may lead to heart-related diseases. In this work, a novel fluorescent probe 1,1′-(((6,11,11-trimethyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-6,9-methanopyridazino[4,5-b]quinoxaline-1,4-diyl)bis(azanylylidene))bis(methanylylidene))bis(naphthalen-2-ol) (PDS) was synthesized from camphor. The probe PDS could be utilized to selectively recognize Co2+ over other metal ions. There is a good linear relationship between fluorescence intensity of PDS and Co2+ concentration within 0–20 μM, and its detection limt was found to be 0.925 μM, which is far lower than the national standard for cobalt in drinking water in China. The possible coordination mechanism of PDS with Co2+ was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and density functional theory (DFT). The probe PDS was also successfully applied in detection of Co2+ in tap water and fresh vegetables.