Study on changes in optical properties of phenylbenzothiazole derivatives on metal ion binding

The UV–visible and fluorescence properties of hydroxy substituted benzothiazole derivatives change on interactions with zinc(II), cadmium(II) and mercury(II) ions. The binding of 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole is specific to zinc(II) over cadmium(II) and mercury(II). Similar type of interactions of zinc(II), cadmium(II) and mercury(II) with 2-(2′,3′,4′-trihydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole is observed in their UV–visible absorptions, whereas 2-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole shows interactions with mercury(II) over the other two ions.