Design, Synthesis, and Application of a Novel Probe for Macroscopic Recognition of Copper Ions.

A novel copper (II) probe based on pyridinium salt was designed and synthesized, and the structure was confirmed by NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The probe exhibits strong orange fluorescent emission, and shows high selectivity for copper (II) over other cations. It may qualitatively identify copper ions from many metal cations without the use of any instruments. The fluorescent intensity at 572 nm decreases linearly with copper (II) concentration in the range of 0–10 µM. A remarkable detection limit (0.045 µM) can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]