A New Metal Sensitive Flourescence Reagent

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Abstract
A new crown ether based fluorophoric reagent which is sensitive to divalent metal ions (e.g., Ca, Mg, Cd) is presented, The reagent displays enhanced flourescence emission when forming a complex with metal cations. The solvent system used has a profound effect on the performance of the reagent, and non-aqueous media was found to produce the most favorable conditions with respect to both sensitivity and complexign ability. Although the ligand possesses intrinsic acid/base sensitive flurescence and spectroscopic properties, the metal sensitivity is not attributed to protonation-deprotonation chemistries as is the case for many of the currently available chromogenic and fluorogenic crown reagents. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the new reagent is markedly influenced by what anion is associated with the metal of interest and the water content of the solvent matrix.