Multi-anthracene containing fluorescent probe for spectrofluorimetric iron determination in environmental water samples

An anthracene-based fluorescence (FL) system was synthesized via a general synthetic procedure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), MALDI-MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C and ¹H NMR) were carried out to characterize the multi-anthracene containing probe. The photophysical properties of the probe were illustrated via 3D-FL analysis and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) measurements. Density-functional theory (DFT) was applied to optimize the structure of the prepared probe and investigate its molecular interactions with Fe³⁺. The FL proficiency of the probe was appraised by spectroscopic measurements like Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) and FL spectroscopies. The simple and highly sensitive probe was able to diagnose ferric ions’ low concentrations and detection limit reached upto 0.223 µM with linear working range between 0.22 and 92.00 µM for Fe³⁺ ions. The efficacy of this fluorescent probe was confirmed by testing for iron determination in environmental samples. Various fluorophores or ionophores could be applied for achieving novel probes by the proposed procedures and for diagnosing diverse metal ions.