Pyrene based chalcone as a reversible fluorescent chemosensor for Al3+ ion and its biological applications

Abstract A pyrene scaffold bearing a phenol molecule has been designed and synthesized as a chemosensor L1 by an aldol type of condensation reaction. The sensor showed high sensitivity and selectivity for Al 3+ ions by the enhancement of fluorescene intensity and distinguishes from the other potentially competing metal ions. The effect of pH, time and the reversibility of the sensor are studied. The fluorescence experiments suggested that the proposed binding of L1 and Al 3+ ion is in a 1:1 stoichiometry. The chemosensor’s direct application in the electrosorptive removal of Al 3+ ion and several other biological applications including the bio-imaging of bacterial cells were examined.