A long-lived ferrocene-conjugated iridium(III) complex for sensitive turn-on luminescence detection of traces of DMSO in water and human serum

•A novel ferrocene-conjugated iridium(III)-based luminescent switch on probe for the detection of DMSO has been developed.•Complex 3 achieved a detection limit of 0.393% and exhibited an excellent selectivity for DMSO.•The application of complex 3 for monitoring DMSO in human serum has been demonstrated.

The development of an efficient sensor for the determination of the DMSO content in aqueous solution is highly desirable in a number of chemical industries. Presented herein is a ferrocene-conjugated iridium(III) complex, which exhibits remarkable capability to detect traces of DMSO (<1% v/v) in aqueous solution through a turn-on luminescence sensing mechanism. The extraordinary sensitivity and selectivity of this newly developed complex for DMSO renders it as one of the most powerful DMSO sensors known.

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