A water-soluble carboxylic-functionalized chemosensor for detecting Al(3+) in aqueous media and living cells: Experimental and theoretical studies.

A new water-soluble carboxylic-functionalized chemosensor 1 was designed and synthesized. 1 exhibited the selective fluorescence enhancement toward aluminum ions with a 1:1 complexation stoichiometry in aqueous solution. The detection limit (24nM) of 1 for Al(3+) is about two order lower than the WHO guideline (7.41μM) for the drinking water. 1 was successfully applied to living cells and real samples for detecting Al(3+). Moreover, the sensing mechanism originated from the inhibited excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process and the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) effect, as supported by theoretical calculations.