A rhodamine based fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensor for the detection of Cr3+ ions and its utility in a molecular logic gate

Abstract

A new rhodamine based fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensor S1 was synthesized for the selective recognition of Cr³⁺, a trivalent metal ion. The interaction of S1 toward different metal ions has been studied via fluorescence and UV-visible spectroscopy. The studies revealed that the fluorescence and colorimetric changes of chemosensor S1 are prominent for Cr³⁺ over other competitive metal ions. Moreover, the chemosensor S1 exhibits 1 : 1 complex formation with Cr³⁺ as apparent from the Job's plot and the Benesi–Hildebrand (B–H) plot. Density functional theory (DFT) studies also revealed that the Cr³⁺ ion is coordinated to three atoms of S1, which validates the formation of a complex between S1 and Cr³⁺. The limit of detection (LOD) of chemosensor S1 for Cr³⁺ was 0.21 μM. Furthermore, to explore the recyclability of S1, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was added to the S1-Cr³⁺ solution. On the addition of EDTA to the solution of S1-Cr³⁺, the reversibility of the complex was observed, and a colorimetric variation was also observed on the addition of Cr³⁺ and EDTA to S1 which mimics the “INHIBIT “molecular logic gate. Chemosensor S1 also demonstrated practical utility through detection of Cr³⁺ in the solid state.