Highly sensitive and selective “naked eye” sensing of Cu(ii) by a novel amido–imine based receptor: a spectrophotometric and DFT study with practical application

Abstract

We report the synthesis of a novel compound (E)-bis-N′-((1H-pyrrol-2-yl)methylene)-pyridine-2,6-carbohydrazide and its sensing ability to detect copper(II) ion in aqueous medium by a sharp color change from yellow to brown, the sensing limit being 4.0 × 10⁻⁹ M. Theoretical modeling of the compound and its copper complex was performed. Practical utility was explored by successful paper strip response.