Highly selective colorimetric fluorescent probe for detecting nitrite in aqueous solution

Nitrite (NO2− ions) is a common pollutant in water and soil environment. Developing a rapid and accurate detection method for NO2− ions is always an important task. Herein, a switch-off colorimetric fluorescent probe P-NO2− was presented as the specific monitoring of NO2− ions in aqueous media. Once NO2− ions was added to the probe P-NO2− solution, the solution color changed very quickly, which was from yellow to colorless. And, the fluorescent intensity (580 nm) decreased obviously. The probe P-NO2− could test NO2− ions quantitatively (0.5–10 μM), and the detection limit was 75 nM according to 3σ/slope. Moreover, this new probe could also be used to determinate NO2− ions in the soil solution samples, river and lake water.