Development of a new near-infrared, spectrophotometric, and colorimetric probe based on phthalocyanine containing mercaptoquinoline unit for discriminative and highly sensitive detection of Ag⁺, Cu²⁺, and Hg²⁺ ions

Dila Cetin, Ozgur Yavuz, Yusuf Alcay, Mustafa Semih Yildirim, Mehmet Kaplan, Hulya Aribuga, Emre Ozdemir, Utku Ertugral, Ismail Yilmaz

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 297, 2023, 122725

The study published by Ismail Yilmaz and his research group reports on the development of a new chemical probe platform based on 8-mercaptoquinoline modified phthalocyanine, which can selectively and sensitively detect Ag⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions using UV-Vis and fluorescence methods with the help of proper masking agents. The probe (MQZnPc) can also allow for on-site detection by visual check. The detection limits of the probe for Ag⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ are in line with World Health Organization tolerable levels. The probe offers several advantages, including operating in the near-infrared region, dual-channel operation, selective and sensitive detection of three different metal cations, on-site colorimetric analysis, smartphone-based analysis, low detection limit values, short detection times, and ratiometric operation for the UV-Vis method. In addition, it has been observed that the probe can detect with high recovery rates in real samples such as tap waters. This study sheds light on the design and synthesis of new chemical probes that can selectively and sensitively detect Ag⁺, Cu²⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions using masking agents.