Naphthalene based fluorescent chemosensor for Fe2+-ion detection in microbes and real water samples

A simple naphthalene based fluorescent chemosensor 1 capable of detecting Fe2+ ion in aqueous media has been designed and synthesized by the coupling reaction between 2-hydroxy-l-naphthaldehyde and m-xylelene dibromide. The Fe2+ ion recognition processes are proven to be hardly influenced by other coexisting metal ions, found to be a reversible processes with EDTA and has the limit of detection up to nanomolar level. Moreover, the sensor is utilized to detect Fe2+ ions in different water samples and for microbial bio imaging.