Hydrazinylpyridine based highly selective optical sensor for aqueous source of carbonate ions: Electrochemical and...

A series of new receptors PDZ1-3 based on 2-(arylidenehydrazinyl)pyridines have been designed and synthesized for the detection of biologically and environmentally important ions. The colorimetric detection of CO₃^2- using neutral organic receptor PDZ-1 has been achieved with characteristic visual colour change from yellow to green accompanied by a large redshift of 215nm in absorption maxima. UV-Vis spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetric studies reveal the stoichiometry of binding and electrochemistry of host-guest complex formation. The binding constant was found to be 0.77×10⁴M^-2. In addition, electrochemical studies provide an insight into the stability of the complex. DFT studies performed on the PDZ-1 and PDZ-1-CO₃^2- complex reveal the binding mechanism involved in the anion detection process. PDZ-1 is highly selective for carbonate and does not show any colorimetric response towards any other anions or cations, while PDZ-2 and PDZ-3 remain inactive in the ion detection process. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of PDZ-1 for carbonate was found to be 0.11mM and 0.36mM respectively. Considerable binding constant and limit of detection make PDZ-1 to be used as a real time sensor for the detection of carbonate in environmental and biological samples.