A BODIPY based emission signal turn-on probe toward multiple heavy metals
Xiaochuan Li, Guixiu Tian, Danyang Shao, Yue Xu, Yan Wang, Guangqian Ji, Jiwon Ryu, Young-Α Son
Abstract
A heavy metals sensor (2-N,N-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)methanamine-BODIPY, DB) for the recognition of Pb2+, Ba2+, Cr2+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Sn2+, and Zn2+ was developed by anchoring (bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amine) DPA unit to the BODIPY framework. It exhibited excellent sensitivity and selectivity against other competent metal ions. The stoichiometry of DB and metal ions were determined to be 1:1. The limit of detection of DB toward Pb2+, Ba2+, Cr2+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Sn2+, and Zn2+ was ranged from 60.07 to 89.37 nM. Photo induced transfer (PET) leads to the weak emission of BODIPY unit. When metal ions anchored with DPA, PET was blocked due to the weak electron donating ability of N in DPA to BODIPY and the highly emissive character of BODIPY was recovered, establishing a fluorescence switch.