A highly selective and sensitive rhodamine B-based chemosensor for Sn in water-bearing and biomaging and biosensing in zebrafish.

A novel colorimetric-fluorescent dual-mode chemosensor (JT5) based on rhodamine B has been produced for monitoring Sn in the DMSO/HO (4:1, v/v) medium. It has high sensitivity, a low detection limit, a short response time (1 s) and high stability, and can still be maintained after two weeks with the red dual fluorescence/ colorimetric response. Enhancement of red fluorescence (591 nm) and red colorimetric (567 nm) response of JT5 by Sn addition. The electrostatic potential of the sensor JT5 molecule was simulated to speculate on the sensing mechanism, and the IR, mass spectrometry and H NMR titration were utilized to further demonstrate that JT5 was coordinated to Sn with a 1:1 type, the rhodamine spironolactam ring of JT5 opens up to form a penta-membered ring with Sn, meanwhile, its system may have chelation enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) effect. In addition, theoretical calculations were carried out to give the energy gaps of JT5 and [JT5 + Sn] as well as to simulate the electronic properties of the maximal absorption peaks. Notably, the sensor JT5 was successfully applied to monitoring Sn in zebrafish, and the JT5-loaded filter paper provided a solid-state platform for detecting Sn by both naked eye and fluorescent methods. In summary, this work contributes to monitoring Sn in organisms and solid-state materials and promotes understanding of Sn functions in biological systems, environments, and solid-state materials.