Water soluble cationic porphyrin sensor for detection of Hg2+,Pb2+,Cd2+,and Cu2+

Here we report the sensing properties of the aqueous solution of meso-tetra(n-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphine tetrachloride (1) for simultaneous detection of toxic metal ions by using uv-vis spectroscopy. cationic porphyrin 1 displayed different electronic absorptions in uv-vis region upon interacting with hg2+,pb2+,cd2+,and cu2+ ions in neutral water solution at room temperature. quite interestingly,the porphyrin 1 showed that it can function as a single optical chemical sensor and/or metal ion receptor capable of detecting two or more toxic metal ions,particularly hg2+,pb2+,and cd2+ ions coexisting in a water sample. porphyrin 1 in an aqueous solution provides a unique uv-vis sensing system for the determination of cd2+ in the presence of larger metal ions such as hg2+,or pb2+. finally,the examination of the sensing properties of 1 demonstrated that it can operate as a cu2+ ion selective sensor via metal displacement from the 1-hg 2+,1-pb 2+,and 1-cd 2+. © 2016 matibur zamadar et al.