Abstract
We describe a highly sensitive turn on colorimetric and fluorescent probe for trivalent iron ions (Fe3+). The newly synthesized compound (RCD) was characterized by FTIR, NMR and mass spectral studies. Competitive experiments reveal that probe RCD exhibits greater sensitivity and specificity towards Fe3+ among other biologically important metals. Binding of Fe3+ to RCD triggers spirolactum ring opening of rhodamine and evokes a 48-fold fluorescence enhancement accompanied by color variation from colorless to pink. The formation of 1:1 complex between RCD and Fe3+ was supported by Job's plot, DFT and Mass spectral studies. The detection limit for RCD is found to be 5.05 mu M even lowers than the permissible [Fe3+] in drinking water as per WHO standard. The high recoveries and low RSD% indicates that RCD can acts as a potential probe for the accurate recognition of Fe3+ in water samples. Moreover, the probe is insensitive to pH 5-8 therefore can be applied for biological and environmental samples. (C ) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.