Abstract
In the context of selective detection of Fe+3, we have shed light on the structure-property relationship and successfully synthesized APTS (sodium 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate) and APSS (sodium (E)-4-hydroxy-3-((pyren-1-ylimino)methyl)benzenesulfonate) molecules having the sulfonate group in order to increase its applicability in neat aqueous samples. Interestingly these water-soluble fluorescent turn-off sensors exhibited excellent selectivity and sensing properties and were able to detect Fe+3 ion in the nanomolar range showing the limit of detection (LOD) 45.6 nM and 45.9 nM, with the binding stoichiometry of 2:1 and 1:1 for APTS and APSS respectively. Further, the binding mechanism study using Density Functional Theory (DFT) is in progress