A triazole-salicylaldehyde-derived organosilane as a ‘turn-on’ fluorescence and colorimetric sensor for Ce(iii): synthesis, anticancer activity and molecular docking studies

Abstract

In the present investigation, a derivative salicylaldehyde-triazole-functionalized silane (SS) was synthesized using a copper(I)-catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) technique. The synthesized organosilane effective dual-mode chemosensor enabled naked-eye colorimetric as well as fluorescence-based detection of Ce(III). The detection limit (LOD) was found to be 0.51 × 10⁻⁷ M from absorption measurements and 0.32 × 10⁻⁷ M from fluorescence studies. The 1 : 1 stoichiometric binding between SS and Ce(III) was further validated by Job's plot analysis. Mass spectrometry, FT-IR, and ¹H NMR were used to clarify the coordination behaviour and binding site of the metal–ligand complex. The probe also exhibited promising anticancer activity, resulting in a 95.15% decrease in cell viability compared to control cells. Molecular docking analysis with 5HU9 further indicated strong binding interaction, with a binding energy of −9.06 kcal mol⁻¹.