β-Hydroxy-α-naphthaldehyde [2-(quinolin-8′-yloxy) acetyl] hydrazone as an efficient fluorescent chemosensor for Mg2+

•The sensor is applied to recognition of Mg2+.•It shows great fluorescence based on excited-state intramolecular proton transfer.•It has lower detection limit.

An efficient fluorescent sensor based on β-hydroxy-α-naphthaldehyde [2-(quinolin-8′-yloxy) acetyl] hydrazone (HL) for Mg2+ has been designed and synthesized. The receptor showed “off–on” fluorescent responses toward Mg2+ in acetonitrile. The reasons for this phenomenon is that the addition of Mg2+ to the solution of HL induce the formation of a 1:1 ligand–metal complex which inhibit excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT).

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