Schiff base fluorescent sensor with aggregation induced emission characteristics for the sensitive and specific Fe3+detection

An aggregation induced emission based compound ((E)-4-((2-hydroxy-5-methoxybenzylidene)amino)benzoic acid) was synthesized through facile Schiff base condensation and characterized by various spectral techniques. The as -prepared compound represented a typical aggregation induced emission behavior in aqueous solution and exploited as a turn-off fluorescent sensor for Fe3+ detection in THF-H2O system (3:7, v/v) with high sensitivity and selectivity. The mechanism of the fluorescence quenching was intensively studied, which was attributed to both dynamic quenching and inner filter effect. The fluorescence probe displayed a highly broad dynamic response range (0.5-500 mu M) for selective detection of Fe3+ with a limit of detection of 0.079 mu M. The proposed method was successfully employed for detection and quantification of Fe3+ in human urine samples and proved to have potential for practical applications in biological field.