The first highly selective turn “ON” fluorescent sensor for vanadyl (VO2+) ions: DFT studies and molecular logic gate behavior

Abstract

Vanadium compounds exhibit anti-tumor properties and insulin-like activity, but an excess is toxic. Development of a selective fluorescent chemosensor for the detection of vanadyl ions has not been reported so far. For the first time, we have reported an effective fluorescent chemosensor C1 for selective recognition and detection of vanadyl ions. C1 was evaluated as a turn “ON” fluorescent chemosensor for vanadyl ions (VO²⁺) based on a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The association constant for the complex C1–VO²⁺ was found to be 4.19 × 10⁴ M⁻¹. C1 also behaves as a NOT molecular logic gate where H⁺ and VO²⁺ were given as inputs. The proposed binding mode between C1 and vanadyl ions was explained using DFT calculations.