A new dual functional sensor: highly selective colorimetric chemosensor for Fe3+ and fluorescent sensor for Mg2+.

A new artificial receptor 1 was synthesized for the detection of Fe(3+) and Mg(2+) in solution as a colorimetric and fluorescent sensor, respectively. The sensor exhibited highly selective and sensitive recognition towards Fe(3+) in CH(3)CN via color change from colorless to brown. Also it showed a significant fluorescence enhancement (70-fold) towards Mg(2+) in the mixture of solution CH(3)CN/H(2)O (8:2, v/v). The selectivity of either Fe(3+) or Mg(2+) was not interfered by the presence of other metal ions such as Cr(3+), Mn(2+), Co(3+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Ag(+), Cd(2+), Pb(2+), Ca(2+) and K(+) ions.