A highly selective colorimetric and fluorescent turn-on chemosensor for Zn2+ and its logic gate behavior

A novel quinoline-based fluorescent chemosensor L was synthesized and characterized by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, HRMS and X-ray Crystallography. L showed a significant fluorescent enhancement (120-fold) and color change upon the addition of Zn2+ attributed to the joint contribution of the PET and CHEF processes. The binding ratio of the L-Zn2+ complex was 1:1 confirmed by the (HNMR)-H-1, mass-spectral analysis and Job plot, and the detection limit for Zn2+ was as low as 5.2 x 10(-7) M. L was successfully applied to the determination of Zn2+ in real water samples. Moreover, the fluorescent signals of L were utilized to built an INHIBIT logic gate.