A ratiometric triazine-based colorimetric and fluorometric sensor for the recognition of Zn2+ ions and its application in human lung cancer cells

Abstract

Herein, we introduce new ratiometric 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine-based probes (R1 and R2) having three different binding sites for three metal ion binders, which can selectively detect Zn²⁺ ions and, particularly, the probe R1 strongly interacts with the human lung cancer cell line (A549). Both the probes R1 and R2 are competently selective towards the Zn²⁺ ions with the detection limits of 1.22 × 10⁻⁷ M and 1.13 × 10⁻⁷ M, respectively. The changes in the structure and absorption properties of the probes are explained by density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. The absorption and fluorescence color change in the solid TLC plate makes it a brilliant Zn²⁺ sensor in a portable form.