A Highly Sensitive C3-Symmetric Schiff-Base Fluorescent Probe for Cd2+

A new C3-symmetric Schiff-base fluorescent probe (L) based on 8-hydroxy-2-methylquinoline has been developed. As expected, the probe L can display high fluorescent selectivity for Cd2+ over Zn2+ and most other common ions in neutral ethanol aqueous medium. Moreover, the mechanism of the L–Cd2+ complex has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography and density functional theory calculation results. More importantly, L could be used to image Cd2+ within living cells.