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A highly sensitive, reversible, reusable and fluorogenic "turn-on" probe (HBTC) is fabricated for the sole detection of Al3+. On incremental addition of Al3+ in a solution of HBTC in ACN : H2O (4 : 1), a sharp "turn-on" emission enhancement is observed at 480 nm. The reversibility of the probe (HBTC) was displayed on the addition of F− solution. The detection limit is found to be of the order of 10−9 M which suggests that HBTC can detect Al3+ at a very minute level. The mechanism for Al3+ detection in ACN : H2O (4 : 1) is attributed to forbidding C＝N isomerization and ESIPT process simultaneously turning on the chelation-enhanced fluorescence process. The reusability and real-time application of the probe are also studied. Bioimaging study reveals that HBTC can detect Al3+ in human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231). Electronic structure of the probe is explained by density functional theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]