A highly selective and recyclable fluorescent sensor based on a Salamo-Salen-Salamo type ligand for continuous detection of Al3+ and phosphates in drug.

The sensor SL can continuously recognized Al3+ and phosphates with good selectivity and fast response time, at the same time accompanied by a naked-eye identification specificity. Binding sites and recognition mechanism were discussed based on spectral characterization and DFT calculation. The sensor also had good recyclability and reusability. Besides, the practical applicability of sensor SL was evaluated by the experiments of zebrafish bioimaging and drug detection, and the results showed that the sensor SL has good practical application value. [Display omitted] • Sensor SL can detect Al3+ and phosphates continuously with high selectivity. • The sensor has the characteristic of twice continuous recognition and is more universal than single recognition sensor. • The target ion contents of three drugs were analyzed by SL and had a good effect. In this work, a fluorescence chemical sensor continuous detection Al3+ and phosphates by a Salamo-Salen-Salamo type compound (SL) was employed. The sensor continuously recognized Al3+ and phosphates with good selectivity and fast response time, and a low limit of detection of 0.25 μΜ and 0.96 μM, at the same time accompanied by a naked-eye identification specificity. The detection mechanism of SL towards Al3+ is due to the chelating fluorescence enhancement effect and ICT effect, and continuously towards phosphates is due to the collapse of the SL-Al3+ and coordination interaction between Al3+ and phosphates, by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, other spectral characterization and DFT calculation as evidence. In addition, the sensor had good recyclability and reusability. The distribution of Al3+ and phosphates in zebrafish cells was effectively monitored by confocal microscopy based on the good biocompatibility and tissue permeability of SL. Furthermore, the feasibility of using sensor SL to detect the content of Al3+ and phosphate ions in certain drugs was quantitatively analyzed through experiments. It was found SL had a good result in practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]