A Highly Selective Sensor for Cyanide in Organic Media and on Solid Surfaces

• Main Authors: Belygona Barare, Ilknur Babahan, Yousef M. Hijji, Enock Bonyi, Solomon Tadesse, Kadir Aslan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-02-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: IR-786; anion sensing; cyanide sensing; cyanine dyes; near-infrared fluorophores; optical sensors; chemical sensors
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/3/271

The application of IR 786 perchlorate (IR-786) as a selective optical sensor for cyanide anion in both organic solution (acetonitrile (MeCN), 100%) and solvent-free solid surfaces was demonstrated. In MeCN, IR-786 was selective to two anions in the following order: CN− > OH−. A significant change in the characteristic dark green color of IR-786 in MeCN to yellow was observed as a result of nucleophilic addition of CN− to the fluorophore, i.e., formation of IR 786-(CN), which was also verified by a blue shift in the 775 nm absorbance peak to 430 nm. A distinct green fluorescence emission from the IR-786-(CN) in MeCN was also observed, which demonstrated the selectivity of IR-786 towards CN− in MeCN. Fluorescence emission studies of IR-786 showed that the lower detection limit and the sensitivity of IR-786 for CN− in MeCN was 0.5 μM and 0.5 to 8 μM, respectively. The potential use of IR-786 as a solvent-free solid state sensor for the selective sensing and monitoring of CN− in the environment was also demonstrated. On solvent-free solid state surfaces, the sensitivity of the IR-786 to CN− in water samples was in the range of 50–300 μM with minimal interference by OH−.