Novel mercury sensor based on water soluble styrylindolium dye

A novel water soluble Hg2+-selective chemosensor using a styrylindolium dye as both colorimetric and fluorometric reporting group has been synthesized and characterized. The chemosensor exhibits a specific Hg2+ selectivity to discriminate between Hg2+ and chemically close ions by using a NO2S2 chelating unit as the ion binding site. Due to the Hg2+-induced intramolecular charge transfer, the chemosensor shows a visible colorimetric change from red to yellow, leading to potential production of both visual and fluorometric detection of Hg2+ cation both in water and in aqueous ethanol solutions.

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► A water soluble Hg2+-selective chemosensor has been synthesized.
► Styrylindolium dye was selected as both colorimetric and fluorescent reporting group.
► The discrimination between Hg2+ and chemically close ions is achieved by using NO2S2 as an ion binding site.
► The chemosensor is based on the intramolecular charge-transfer mechanism.
► The selective binding of Hg2+ leads to a visible change in color from red to yellow.