Tridentate lysine-based fluorescent sensor for Hg(II) in aqueous solution.

A novel homoplastic podand fluorescent sensor based on flexible hydrophilic lysine was prepared. Lysine with two dansyl groups-appended at both ends supplied a possibility for a tridentate binding toward Hg(II) and finally resulted in a unique selectivity to Hg(II) over other transition-metal ions with a hypersensitivity (detection limit 2.0 nM) in neutral buffered aqueous solutions. Notably, the coordination of chloride ion to the complex of sensor-Hg(II) brought forth that the trend in the NMR chemical shift for hydrogen and carbon atoms of the sensor was contrary to the findings in the former reports, which shows upfield shifts for the hydrogens and the alkane carbons but downfield shifts for the dansyl carbons, respectively.