A new on-fluorescent probe for manganese (II) ion

A new fluorescent probe for Mn(2+) ion, (6E)-N-((E)-1,2-diphenyl-2-(pyridin-2-ylimino)ethylidene)pyridin-2-amine (L), has been synthesized from benzil and 2-amino pyridine and characterized. In 1:1 (v/v) CH3CN:H2O (pH 4.0, universal buffer) L exhibits fluorescent intensity with emission peak at λmax 360 nm on excitation with photons of 310 nm. Fluorescent intensity of L increases distinguishingly on interaction with Mn(2+) ion compared to metal ions--Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Ba(2+), Fe(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), Hg(2+), Pb(2+) and Ag(+) individually or all together. The enhancement in fluorescent intensity is due to snapping of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) prevailed in free L. Fluorescence and UV/visible spectral data analysis shows that binding stoichiometry between Mn(2+) and L is 1:1 with log β ≈ 3.0. Both L and its Mn(2+) complex were optimised using density functional theory (DFT) and vibrational frequency calculations confirm that both are at local minima on the potential energy surfaces.