Selective and sensitive turn-on chemosensor for arsenite ion at the ppb level in aqueous media applicable in cell staining.

A newly designed and structurally characterized cell permeable diformyl-p-cresol based receptor (HL) selectively senses the AsO3(3-) ion up to ca. 4.1 ppb in aqueous media over the other competitive ions at biological pH through an intermolecular H-bonding induced CHEF (chelation-enhanced fluorescence) process, established by detailed experimental and theoretical studies. This biofriendly probe is highly competent in recognizing the existence of AsO3(3-) ions in a living organism by developing an image under a fluorescence microscope and useful to estimate the amount of arsenite ions in various water samples.