Synthesis and characterization of a novel cross-linking complex of β-cyclodextrin-o-vanillin furfuralhydrazone and highly selective spectrofluorimetric determination of trace gallium

A novel host inclusion complex of cross-linking-polymeric-β-cyclodextrin-o-vanillin furfuralhydrazone (β-CDP-OVFH) was synthesized and characterized with IR and 1H NMR spectra to confirm its structure. A highly selective and sensitive fluorescent determination of trace amounts of gallium was proposed based on the reaction between Ga3+ with β-CDP-OVFH in acetic acid–ammonium acetate buffer medium of pH 4.10. The maximum excitation and emission wavelengths were 392 and 499 nm, respectively. The linear range of this method was 1.5–330 ng ml−1 with a detection limit of 0.44 ng ml−1. The effect of interferences in the determination of gallium was investigated and the results showed that the same race elements such as Al3+ and In3+ did not interfere the determination of Ga3+ even when their concentration is 100 times of Ga3+, the host reagent had quite high capacity of identifying Ga3+. This method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of Ga3+ in artificial and semiconductor samples.