Pyridoxal Based Fluorescent Chemosensor for Detection of Copper(II) in Solution With Moderate Selectivity and Live Cell Imaging.

A pyridoxal-based fluorescent probe HL was synthesized for the detection of Cu(2+) in methanol with moderate selectivity. Upon addition of Cu(2+), to the solution of the probe in methanol exhibited a remarkable change in emission at 500 nm. With the limit of detection of 10 μM, the probe could well meet the recommended (less than 32 μM in drinking water) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The intracellular Cu(2+) imaging behaviour of HL was carried out on HeLa cells.