A new highly selective fluorescent turn-on chemosensor for cyanide anion.

A new simple molecule, 2-((2-phenyl-2H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methylene)malononitrile (M1), was synthesized successfully by the Knoevenagel condensation reaction between 2-phenyl-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxaldehyde and malononitrile. The receptor M1 is highly sensitive and selective to cyanide anion due to the nucleophilic addition of cyanide anion with M1. Distinct changes on UV-vis and fluorescence spectra can be detected with the addition of cyanide anion to the DMSO solution of M1. Optical properties of M1 were scarcely affected by the addition of other common background anions (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), SCN(-), OH(-), CO4(2-), H2PO4(-), SO4(2-), HSO4(-), AcO(-), and NO3(-)) under the same condition. The detection limit of CN(-) reaches ~1.43 μM by M1 and the presence of background anions brought very slight interference for the detection of CN(-).