A selective optode membrane for histidine based on fluorescence enhancement of meso-meso-linked porphyrin dimer

A plasticized polymer film, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) incorporated with a specific porphyrin dimer, is shown to exhibit significant and analytical usefulness for optical response toward histidine. The porphyrin dimer containing a free-base porphyrin and a covalently linked metalloporphyrin is shown to be weakly fluorescent as a result of the photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer from the inner free-base porphyrin in singlet excited state to a low-spin cobalt(II). The fluorescence enhancement of the membrane by histidine is based on favorable extraction of histidine into the bulk organic membrane and complexation with the inner metallopophyrin moiety and inhibiting the electron transfer process. With the optode membrane described, histidine in a sample solution from 0.0045 to 1.53 mM can be determined. The calibration curve of the optode membrane for histidine shows a good correlation with the mathematically derived formalism and, thus, confirms the theoretically expected behavior. The sensor presented exhibits high selectivity toward histidine over several amino acids and common inorganic anions. The optical selectivity coefficients obtained for histidine over other biologically relevant amino acids and anions are shown to meet the selectivity requirements for the monitoring concentration levels of histidine in biological samples. The selective characteristic of the sensor has been discussed in the view of the coordination chemistry of metalloporphyrin.