A fluorescent chemodosimeter for Hg2+ based on a spirolactam ring-opening strategy and its application towards mercury determination in aqueous and cellular media.

A novel fluorescent chemosensor rhodamine B phenyl hydrazide (RBPH) for Hg(2+) was designed and synthesized. This probe is highly sensitive, selective, and irreversible for Hg(2+) and exhibits fluorescent response at 580 nm. RBPH also displayed detectable color change from colorless to pink upon treatment with Hg(2+). This property has been utilized as naked eye detection for Hg(2+) in various industrial samples. Fluorescence microscopic experiments demonstrated that this chemosensor is cell permeable and can be used for fluorescence imaging of Hg(2+) in cellular media. This probe can detect Hg(2+) with good linear relationships from 1 to 100 nM with r = 0.99983 and the limit of detection were found to be 0.019 nM with ± 0.91 % RSD at 10 nM concentrations.