Novel rhodamine Schiff base type naked-eye fluorescent probe for sensing Fe 3+ and the application in cell.

Three rhodamine schiff-base type fluorescent sensors R1–R3 for detecting iron ion (Fe3+), 2-furanacrolein rhodamine hydrazone (R1), furfural rhodamine hydrazone (R2) and 2-furanacrolein rhodamine ethylenediamine (R3) have been synthesized by using rhodamine B derivatives and furan derivatives as staring materials. And their recognition abilities for Fe3+ were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. The result showed that R1 is a best selective probe for Fe3+ over other metal ions in EtOH/H2O (1:1, v/v) due to having 2-furanacrolein for unique space coordination structural. The recognition of Fe3+ and mechanism of the sensor were characterized and determined by fluorescence spectra and Fukui function. And the fluorescence intensity of the probe R1 for Fe3+ was proportional to its concentration with the linear correlation coefficient of 0.9965 and the binding constant of 7.66×104M−1. And the cell imaging experiment indicated a successful application of the probe R1 for Fe3+ in living cell.