1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene fluorophore as a selective Cu2+ sensor in aqueous media

Three water-soluble fluorophores are synthesized from 1,3,5-tris-(4'-iodophenyl)benzene. The compound with salicylate groups exhibits a selective fluorescent quenching by Cu2+ via a static quenching mechanism. The addition of Triton X-100 improves the quantum efficiency of the fluorophore as well as the detection limit for Cu2+ from 6.49 to 0.19 ppb.