Anthracene benzene conjugate (ABC): An asymmetric Schiff base for the selective detection of Ag+ ion using fluorimetry and its applications

Anthracene based chemosensor ABC has been synthesized and characterized through 1H, 13C NMR, mass spectral studies. UV absorption and emission studies performed to identify the sensing behavior of chemosensor ABC. The probe ABC, originally bright fluorescent, selectively sense Ag+ ion by the quenching the fluorescence intensity through a "Switch On-off" process and quench the fluorescence due to the heavy atom effect interaction with the free chemosensor. The binding constant of the probe ABC with Ag+ was calculated as 5.4 × 104 M-1 and the limit of detection upto 1.4 nM level. The practical utilization of the probe ABC was demonstrated by applying to the real water and soil sample analysis, latent finger print, and the sensor as a fluorescent ink.