A novel colorimetric sensor based on BODIPY-coumarin dye for simultaneous detection of cyanide and fluoride

A novel colorimetric and fluorescent sensor 6 for fluoride and cyanide was developed based on BODIPY-coumarin platform and its anions sensing properties were investigated in the mixture of acetonitrile and Tris-HCl buffer (v/v = 95:5, pH = 7.5). Probe 6 could simultaneously detect F- and CN- through colorimetric method over the other competitive anions, such as Cl-, Br-, I-, NO3-, ClO4-, HSO4-, S2- and H2PO4-. It exhibited a distinct color change from red to green upon addition of F- through deprotection of tert-butyldiphenylsilyl group of coumarin. Moreover, it displayed an obvious color change from red to yellow through deprotection process firstly, then with a nucleophilic displacement mechanism. Therefore, the sensor 6 provides a novel method to simultaneously detect F− and CN− with different color change in the same solvent environment. The detection limit of sensor 6 toward F- and CN- ion was determined to be 0.43 μM and 1.9 μM respectively,