A dansyl-based fluorescent probe for sensing Cu2+ in aqueous solution.

Abstract A fluorescent probe based on a glycyl-L-tyrosine-modified dansyl derivative (D-GT) is designed and synthesized. D-GT demonstrated great detection performance toward Cu2+ in an aqueous solution. Fluorescence quenching occurred due to the coordination of Cu2+ with D-GT. The sensitive detection of D-GT to Cu2+ was applied in aqueous solution within a wide pH span (6–12). A 1:1 coordinate stoichiometric way and an association constant of 6.47 × 104 M−1 between D-GT and Cu2+ were determined. The measured detection limit for Cu2+ in HEPES buffer solution (10 mM, pH 7.4) was 0.69 μM. The probe displayed an appropriate sensitivity toward Cu2+ in real drinking water samples and living cells, which reveals the potential applications of D-GT in complicated environments.