"Turn-on" fluorescent sensor for Hg2+ via displacement approach.

A new Cu2+ compound Cu- NB, (where H2 NB is bis(2-hydroxyl-naphthalene-carboxaldehyde) benzil dihydrazone) was synthesized as a highly selective fluorescence chemosensor for the detection of Hg2+ in aqueous media through a displacement "turn-on" signaling strategy. Whereas the coordination of Cu2+ resulted in a considerable quenching of the typical luminescence of the naphthol rings in Cu-NB, the addition of Hg2+ ion led to a dramatic increase in the emission intensity of Cu-NB at about 530 nm (excitation at 430 nm). The competitive fluorescent experiments showed that alkali, alkaline earth metal ions, the group 12 metals Zn2+, Cd2+, the first-row transition-metal ions such as Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, and Ni2+, as well as Pb2+ could not inhibit the Hg2+-binding fluorescent enhancement. It is postulated that the existence of Cu2+ in the luminescent probe Cu-NB could turn away the interferences of other metal cations from Hg2+ detection. The optical responses of the free ligand upon addition of Cu2+ ion, and of the Hg-H2NB compound upon the addition of Cu2+ were also investigated for comparisons.