Triazine based fluorescent sensor for sequential detection of Hg2+and L-Cysteine in real samples and application in logic Gate: A combination of Extensive experimental and theoretical analysis

Triazine based fluorescent sensor TBT was rationally designed and synthesized to achieve sequential detection of Hg2+ and L-cysteine based on the presence of sulfur moiety and suitable cavity in the molecule. Sensor TBT exhibited excellent sensing potential for the selective detection of Hg2+ ions and L-cysteine (Cys) in real samples. Upon addition of Hg2+ to sensor TBT, enhancement in emission intensity of sensor TBT was observed which was accredited to the presence of sulfur moiety and size of cavity in the sensor. Upon interaction with Hg2+ blockage of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) along with chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) resulted in the in-crease in fluorescence emission intensity of sensor TBT. Further, TBT-Hg2+ complex was employed for the se-lective detection of Cys through fluorescence quenching mechanism. This was attributed to the significantly stronger interaction of Cys with Hg2+, which resulted in the formation of Cys-Hg2+ complex and subsequently sensor TBT was released from TBT-Hg2+ complex. The nature of interaction between TBT-Hg2+ and Cys-Hg2+ complex was evaluated through 1H NMR titration experimentations. Extensive DFT studies were also carried out which include thermodynamic stability, frontier molecular orbitals (FMO), density of states (DOS), non-covalent interaction (NCI), quantum theory of atom in molecule (QTAIM), electron density differences (EDD) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses. All the studies supported the non-covalent type of interaction between analytes and sensor TBT. The limit of detection for Hg2+ ions was found to be as low as 61.9 nM. Sensor TBT was also employed for the quantitative detection of Hg2+ and Cys in real samples. Additionally, logic gate was fabricated by using sequential detection strategy.

Automated summary

A triazine based fluorescent sensor TBT was synthesized for sequential detection of Hg2+ and L-cysteine. The sensor showed excellent potential for selective detection of Hg2+ ions and L-cysteine in real samples. Interaction with Hg2+ enhanced the emission intensity of the sensor, while the interaction with L-cysteine resulted in fluorescence quenching.