Detection of hazardous mercury ion using [5]helicene-based fluorescence probe with “Turn ON” sensing response for practical applications

A new fluorescence probe based on [5]helicene derivative (MT) was designed and synthesized. The chemical structure of the probe was fully characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. MT which is the combination of thioamide[5]helicene with Schiff base-thiophene moiety, exhibited a high selectivity to detect Hg2+ through irreversible desulfurization reaction with “TurnON” fluorescence response and large Stokes shift of 110 nm in aqueous methanol solution. The detection limit of MT was 1.2 ppb (6.0 × 10−3 µM), which is lower than the limit of Hg2+ level in drinking water, as specified by WHO (6.0 ppb) and U.S. EPA (2.0 ppb). The Hg2+ detection range of the probe was 0.07–1.6 µM with good linearity. Under UV irradiation, MT possessed the capability to detect Hg2+ in diverse context of real samples, including drinking and sea waters, vegetable tissue and brain tumor cell. In addition, MT could be used as a paper test strip for monitoring and screening of Hg2+ contamination in environment.