Cost-effective approach to detect Cu(ii) and Hg(ii) by integrating a smartphone with the colorimetric response from a NBD-benzimidazole based dyad

• DOI: 10.1039/c9cp00002j
• Publication Date: 2019-05-07T11:34:22Z
• Authors: Thangaraj Anand; Suban K. Sahoo
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

A new optical chemosensor N1 was designed and synthesized by condensing 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan with 2-aminophenylbenzimidazole. In CH3OH : H2O (1 : 1, v/v) medium, sensor N1 exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity towards Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions by showing a distinct colour change from pale yellow to pink due to the internal charge transfer occurring between the sensor N1 and the Cu2+/Hg2+ ions upon complexation in 1 : 1 stoichiometry.