Water Soluble Porphyrin for the Fluorescent Determination of Cadmium Ions

Porphyrins are highly conjugated molecules that perform wide variety of functions in biological systems. They absorb strongly in the visible region and they are excellent fluorophores that emit in the visible region. If the meso or β positions of porphyrins are properly substituted, emission in the NIR region is facilitated. The fluorescence property of porphyrins can be used in sensing applications. Here, we report the synthesis of a water soluble porphyrin that emits in the NIR region and this molecule is used in the fluorescent determination of cadmium ion, which is an environmental pollutant and affects the health of living organisms adversely. 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)porphyrin (THMPP), which is water soluble was synthesised from 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)porphyrin (TMPP) by partial demethylation, which in turn was synthesized by mixture acid method. The donor-acceptor interaction of THMPP-Cd²⁺ system displays a dynamic fluorescence quenching through the electron transfer (ET) mechanism. Developed method showed a linear response toward Cd²⁺ in the concentration range of 0.25 μM to 2 μM. The limit of detection was found to be 0.1499 μM. THMPP exhibited excellent selectivity towards Cd (II) in presence of other metal ions like Hg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Co²⁺ in 1:100, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ in 1:10 and Na⁺, K⁺ in 1:1 M ratio.