title: Fluorometric sensing of Hg2+ ions in aqueous medium by nano-aggregates of a tripodal receptor.
abstract: Two new tripodal receptors (1–2) have been synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The nano-aggregates of 1 and 2 (N1 and N2) have been prepared by a re-precipitation method in aqueous medium and have shown different photo-physical properties. Nano-aggregates of 1 (N1) can selectively recognize Hg(2+) in aqueous medium in the presence of other metal ions with enhancement in fluorescent intensity. The response was linearly proportional to the concentration of Hg(2+) in the range 0–10 μM with a detection limit of 2.4 nM. The mechanism of selective binding of Hg(2+) by N1 has also been supported by theoretical studies. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first report on substituted thiourea based nano-aggregates for nano-molar detection of mercury in aqueous medium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar), Rupnagar, Punjab 140001, India. nsingh@iitrpr.ac.in.
authors.forename: Ajnesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Simanpreet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Narinder
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Navneet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaur
mesh_terms: D015058:1-Naphthylisothiocyanate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D005470:Fluorometry; D007477:Ions / Q000032:analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D014867:Water; D015058:1-Naphthylisothiocyanate; D008628:Mercury