Selective off-on fluorescent chemosensor for detection of Fe3+ ions in aqueous media

A Fe3+ chemosensor L1 was successfully synthesized with a quinoline moiety bound to rhodamine 6G hydrazide. The sensor L1 shows high selectivity and sensitivity to Fe3+ in aqueous solution in the presence of other trace metal ions in organisms, abundant cellular cations and prevalent toxic metal ions in the environment. In addition, biological imaging and micro computed tomography (MCT) technology studies have demonstrated that L1 could act as a turn-on fluorescent chemosensor for Fe3+ in living cells.