A highly selective turn-on fluorescent chemosensor based on 8-aminoquinoline for detection of Zn2+

A new turn-on fluorescent probe based on 8-aminoquinoline for detection of Zn2+ was designed, synthesized and characterized. The sensor showed excellent selectivity and sensitivity with a fluorescence enhancement to Zn2+ over other cations in CH3OH-H2O solution. The detection limit for Zn2+ by HAQT reached 2.56 x 10(-7) M. The binding ratio of the HAQT-Zn2+ complex was determined to be 1 : 1 according to the Job plot. The mechanism of HAQT for the recognition of Zn2+ has been investigated by FT-IR, H-1 NMR and MS analyses. These advantages allowed for the application of HAQT to detect Zn2+ in real water samples.