Interaction of a Schiff-base fluorescent sensor with Al3+: experimental and computational studies

A fluorescent Al³⁺ chemo-sensor, 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-hydroxypyrazole-4-acetone-(3′,4′-dimethylpyrrole-2′-formyl) hydrazone (L), has been synthesized and characterized. L can detect Al³⁺ in ethanol solution with a significant fluorescence enhancement of a turn-on ratio over 155-fold due to the formation of a 1?:?1 complex which is based on the molar ratio between L and Al³⁺ ions, and the 1?:?1 stoichiometric complexation can be obtained from density functional theory calculations. No significant interference of other metal ions such as Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺, Pb²⁺, and Ag⁺ was found. The detection limit for Al³⁺ was 5?×?10^?9?M in ethanol.