A dansyl-based fluorescent probe for sensing Cu in aqueous solution.

A fluorescent probe based on a glycyl-L-tyrosine-modified dansyl derivative (D-GT) is designed and synthesized. D-GT demonstrated great detection performance toward Cu in an aqueous solution. Fluorescence quenching occurred due to the coordination of Cu with D-GT. The sensitive detection of D-GT to Cu was applied in aqueous solution within a wide pH span (6-12). A 1:1 coordinate stoichiometric way and an association constant of 6.47 × 10 M between D-GT and Cu were determined. The measured detection limit for Cu in HEPES buffer solution (10 mM, pH 7.4) was 0.69 μM. The probe displayed an appropriate sensitivity toward Cu in real drinking water samples and living cells, which reveals the potential applications of D-GT in complicated environments.