A novel pyrimidine derivative as a fluorescent chemosensor for highly selective detection of Aluminum (III) in aqueous media

• An efficient fluorescent chemosensor was reported in aqueous media.
• The probe showed high selectivity for Al3+ over other coexisting ions.
• The system exhibits turn-off fluorescence via ICT and PET process.
• Probe was fruitfully applied for the direct detection of Al3+ in environmental samples.

An efficient fluorescent chemosensor Al3+ receptor based on pyrimidine derivative,2-amino-6-hydroxy-4-(4-N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (DMAB), has been synthesized by three-component condensation of aromatic aldehyde, ethyl cyanoacetate and guanidine hydrochloride in ethanol under alkaline medium. High selectivity and sensitivity of DMAB towards Aluminum ion (Al3+) in water: ethanol and acetate buffer at pH 4.0 makes it suitable to detect Al3+ with steady-state UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Method shows good selectivity towards Al3+ over other coexisting metal ions tested, viz. Fe2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Pb2+, Sb3+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Hg2+, Ba2+, Cd2+ and K+. A good linearity between the Stern–Volmer plots of F0/F versus concentration of Al3+ was observed over the range from 10 to 60 μg mL−1 with correlation coefficient of 0.991. The accuracy and reliability of the method were further confirmed by recovery studies via standard addition method with percent recoveries in the range of 101.03–103.44% and lowest detection limit (LOD = 7.35 μg mL−1) for Al3+ was established. This method may offer a new cost-effective, rapid, and simple key to the inspection of Al3+ ions in water samples in the presence of a complex matrix and can be capable of evaluating the exceeding standard of Al3+ in environmental water samples. The probable mechanism for fluorescence quenching was also discussed.

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