A fluorescent chemosensor for copper(II) based on a carboxylic acid-functionalized tris(2,2'-bipyridine)-ruthenium(II) complex.

In this research, bis(2,2'-bipyridine)(4-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine-4'-carboxylic acid)ruthenium(II).2PF(6)- complex (1), was first used as a fluorescent chemosensor to recognize Cu(II) in EtOH/H(2)O (1:1, v/v) solution. The response of the sensor is based on the fluorescence quenching of complex 1 by binding with Cu(II). The analytical performance characteristics of the proposed Cu(II)-sensitive chemosensor were investigated. The sensor can be applied to the quantification of Cu(II) with a linear range covering from 5.0 x 10(-8) to 1.0 x 10(-4) M and a detection limit of 4.2 x 10(-8) M. The experiment results show that the response behavior of 1 to Cu(II) is pH independent in medium condition (pH 4.0 - 8.0), and show excellent selectivity for Cu(II) over other transition metal cations.