A New On-fluorescent Probe for Manganese (II) Ion

A new fluorescent probe for Mn²⁺ ion, (6E)-N-((E)-1,2-diphenyl-2-(pyridin-2-ylimino)ethylidene)pyridin-2-amine (L), has been synthesized from benzil and 2-amino pyridine and characterized. In 1:1 (v/v) CH₃CN:H₂O (pH 4.0, universal buffer) L exhibits fluorescent intensity with emission peak at λ_max 360 nm on excitation with photons of 310 nm. Fluorescent intensity of L increases distinguishingly on interaction with Mn²⁺ ion compared to metal ions—Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Ag⁺ individually or all together. The enhancement in fluorescent intensity is due to snapping of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) prevailed in free L. Fluorescence and UV/visible spectral data analysis shows that binding stoichiometry between Mn²⁺ and L is 1:1 with log β?≈?3.0. Both L and its Mn²⁺ complex were optimised using density functional theory (DFT) and vibrational frequency calculations confirm that both are at local minima on the potential energy surfaces.