Background: Zinc and copper ions both play an important role in biological systems and in means of everyday life. The zinc ion is the second most abundant heavy metal ion and plays an important role on the cellular level. But zinc is also a well-known metal pollutant of the environment and it is a common contaminant in agriculture and food waste. Like zinc copper as also been identified as a significant environmental pollutant. Therefore the ability to be able to detect zinc and copper ions is very important because of environment and biological analyses. One method that allows scientists the ability to be able to detect these ions is by using a chemical sensor. Chemical sensors offer unique advantages over other methods of detection. They can be designed to selectively detect and quantify trace amounts of metals such as Zn2+. Chemical sensors use the principle of receptor/substrate affinity. The chemical sensor is a receptor which can recognize detect and measure a target metal by using selective affinity to the particular metal. Technology Description: The chemosensing properties are based on an internal charge transfer mechanism. The chemosensor comprises one or more electron donating dipyrrin functionalities linked to an electron withdrawing functionality. The chemosensor forms a stable transition metal complex through internal charge transfer between the electron donating functionality and the target transitional metal which results in measurable fluorescence. In summary this application describes and claims a ratiometric fluorescent sensor for Zn2+ based on an internal charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. This invention is a novel class of fluorescent sensors with a sensitivity selectivity and synthetic efficiency for the identification qualitative and quantitative detection of transition metal ions. The chemosensing properties are based on an internal charge transfer mechanism. The chemosensor comprises one or more electron donating dipyrrin functionalities linked to an electron withdrawing functionality. The chemosensor forms a stable transition metal complex through internal charge transfer between the electron donating functionality and the target transitional metal which results in measurable fluorescence. In summary this application describes and claims a ratiometric fluorescent sensor for Zn2+ based on an internal charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. Applications: 1) Controlled selectivity (e.g. significant detection of Zn2+ and negligible detection of other metal ions) 2) Concise efficient synthesis of chemosensor 3) Maximal florescence absorption 4) Longer absorption or emission waveleth: 5) Reduce background absorption fluorescence and light scattering 6) Prevent cell Damage 7) Identifies transition metal ions 8) ICT to allow radiometric calculation 9) Increase in the precision of the data due to the reduction of artifacts and built-in correction for environmental effects 10) Increase in the dynamic range of metal ion concentration 11) Detection of chemical pollutants of the environment 12) Medical biological and environmental applications
1) Designed to selectively detect and quantify trace amounts of metals