A new ferrocene–anthracene dyad for dual-signaling sensing of Cu(II) and Hg(II)

•A new anthracenyl-appended ferrocene bearing the aniline N and thiourea S donors for metal ions recognition was prepared.•The sensor shows fluorescent and electrochemical sensing of Cu2+ and Hg2+ in CH3CN solution.•It only shows fluorescence turn-on response to Hg2+ in CH3CN–Tris (1:1, v/v) buffer solution.•1H NMR analysis and DFT calculations revealed the binding mode.

A new anthracenyl-appended ferrocene bearing the aniline N and the thiourea S donors (1) for multiple signaling sensing of metal ions, has been synthesized and characterized. Upon addition of various metal ions in CH3CN solution, 1 shows a distinctive response to Cu2+ and Hg2+ over other metal ions, with a large enhancement of the emission of 1, and an anodic shift of electrochemical potential. In contrast, in CH3CN–Tris (1:1, v/v) buffer solution, 1 only shows a fluorescence turn-on response to Hg2+ over other metal ions, which can distinguish Hg2+ from Cu2+ and other metal ions. Furthermore, the supposed binding mode of 1 with Hg2+ and/or Cu2+ was also discussed according to the 1H NMR titration and the theoretical calculation results by density functional theory (DFT) method.

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