An effective fluoroquinolone-based fluorescent probe for ultrasensitive Zn2+ detection exhibiting “turn-on” fluorescence
5 affiliations
- 1Green Technology, Department of Chemistry, SIMATS Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University 602105 Tamil Nadu India
- 2Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok 10330 Thailand
- 3Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Guwahati & Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India Sila Katamur (Halugurisuk) Changsari, Kamrup Assam 781101 India
- 4Interdisciplinary Institute of Indian System of Medicine (IIISM), Directorate of Research, SRM Institute of Science and Technology Kattankulathur 603203 Tamil Nadu India
- 5Department of Chemistry, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram Campus India
Abstract
Contamination of water and soil by heavy metal ions is a major global concern because these ions are toxic and persist in the environment for long periods. A new, effective fluorescent sensor based on a fluoroquinolone was developed for detecting zinc ions (Zn2+) with a turn-on signal. When Zn2+ ions are gradually added to the fluoroquinolone solution, the fluorescence intensity increases due to an internal charge transfer mechanism. We evaluated the detection of Zn2+ ions using the fluorescence probe in various solvents and across different pH conditions. The key results showed that the fluorescent probe demonstrated a strong preference for detecting Zn2+ ions in ethanol, maintaining accuracy despite the presence of other metal ions, and exhibited enhanced sensitivity. The developed sensor achieved a remarkably low detection limit of 1 nM for Zn2+ ions, outperforming earlier reported sensors. Fluorescence measurements exhibited a consistent linear correlation for Zn2+ concentrations between 1 nM and 15 µM. Furthermore, spectrophotometric data showed increased absorbance peaks upon addition of Zn2+ to the fluoroquinolone solution, confirming the creation of a fluoroquinolone–Zn2+ complex. The suggested probe was successfully applied to detect Zn2+ ions in wastewater and drinking water samples, achieving recovery rates ranging from 97.0% to 102.75%. More interestingly, binding to Zn2+ leads to significant changes in the fluorescence lifetime of the proposed probe, which can be used to visualize Zn2+ ions in A549 cells via Confocal fluorescence microscopy. The reported chemosensor with fluoroquinolone is an effective and economical system for real-time monitoring of Zn2+ ions.
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BibTeX
@article{abraham2026effective,
title = {{An effective fluoroquinolone-based fluorescent probe for ultrasensitive Zn2+ detection exhibiting “turn-on” fluorescence}},
author = {Daniel Arulraj Abraham and Ravikumar Ayyanu and Ellairaja Sundaram and Balasubramani Govindasamy and A. Anand Babu Christus},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra00838k},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13659653},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - An effective fluoroquinolone-based fluorescent probe for ultrasensitive Zn2+ detection exhibiting “turn-on” fluorescence
AU - Daniel Arulraj Abraham
AU - Ravikumar Ayyanu
AU - Ellairaja Sundaram
AU - Balasubramani Govindasamy
AU - A. Anand Babu Christus
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra00838k
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13659653
AB - Contamination of water and soil by heavy metal ions is a major global concern because these ions are toxic and persist in the environment for long periods. A new, effective fluorescent sensor based on a fluoroquinolone was developed for detecting zinc ions (Zn2+) with a turn-on signal. When Zn2+ ions are gradually added to the fluoroquinolone solution, the fluorescence intensity increases due to an internal charge transfer mechanism. We evaluated the detection of Zn2+ ions using the fluorescence probe in various solvents and across different pH conditions. The key results showed that the fluorescent probe demonstrated a strong preference for detecting Zn2+ ions in ethanol, maintaining accuracy despite the presence of other metal ions, and exhibited enhanced sensitivity. The developed sensor achieved a remarkably low detection limit of 1 nM for Zn2+ ions, outperforming earlier reported sensors. Fluorescence measurements exhibited a consistent linear correlation for Zn2+ concentrations between 1 nM and 15 µM. Furthermore, spectrophotometric data showed increased absorbance peaks upon addition of Zn2+ to the fluoroquinolone solution, confirming the creation of a fluoroquinolone–Zn2+ complex. The suggested probe was successfully applied to detect Zn2+ ions in wastewater and drinking water samples, achieving recovery rates ranging from 97.0% to 102.75%. More interestingly, binding to Zn2+ leads to significant changes in the fluorescence lifetime of the proposed probe, which can be used to visualize Zn2+ ions in A549 cells via Confocal fluorescence microscopy. The reported chemosensor with fluoroquinolone is an effective and economical system for real-time monitoring of Zn2+ ions.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -