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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

An Anaerobic Biosensor Assay for the Detection of Mercury and Cadmium
Published on: December 17, 2018
A Calixarene-Based Fluorogenic Reagent for Selective Mercury(II) Recognition
G G Talanova1, N S Elkarim, V S Talanov
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1061.
Abstract:
The first calixarene-based fluorogenic Hg(II)-selective extractant, 5,11,17,23-tetrakis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-25,27-bis(N-(5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)carbamoylmethoxy)-26,28-dimethoxycalix[4]arene (2), is reported. In solvent extraction from aqueous acidic solutions (HNO(3)), 2 exhibits excellent selectivity for Hg(II) over a wide range of transition, alkali, and alkaline earth metal cations. Quenching of its fluorescence due to Hg(II) coordination is unaffected by the presence of 100-fold excesses of alkali metal cations, alkaline earth metal cations, Ag(I), Tl(I), Cd(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Pd(II), Zn(II), or Fe(III).
