A highly selective and sensitive acylhydrazone-based turn-on optical sensor for Al3+

Abstract

An acylhydrazone-based chemosensor M1 (2-hydroxy-((2-phenyl-2H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methylene)benzohydrazide) was synthesized for the detection of Al³⁺. Unlike other receptors reported, M1 showed an excellent selectivity which could hardly be interfered by other ions like Cu²⁺ and Fe³⁺. The fluorescence intensity varied almost linearly vs. the concentration of Al³⁺, and the detection limit of Al³⁺ was estimated to be 1.2 × 10⁻⁸ M, illustrating that M1 can be used as a “turn-on” fluorescent chemosensor to selectively and sensitively detect Al³⁺ in ethanol.