Selective extraction of palladium(II) using hydrazone ligand: A novel fluorescent sensor

The acyclic tridentate blue luminescent ligand (λ_ex=300 nm, λ_em=415 nm) quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde 2-pyridylhydrazone, HL, 1, was recognized as a new fluorescent chemosensor for Pd²⁺. In alkaline methanol complete fluorescent quenching was observed in the presence of 2 equivalents of Pd²⁺ that was further reflected in the solid phase fluorescence microscopic study.Ligand formed 1:1 complexes with Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pd²⁺ and 1:2 complexes with Co²⁺, Fe²⁺ as obtained from Job's plot of continuous variation. The binding constants of different metal complexes (Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Pd²⁺) were estimated by fluorescence titrations. The ligand can selectively extract significant amount of Pd²⁺ from the aqueous mixture of metal ions, and the extraction efficiency was increased from 80% to 95% with increase in the molar ratio of HL, 1, to Pd²⁺ from 1 to 3. No significant interference was observed up to 2-fold excess addition of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ and 100-fold excess addition of Co²⁺, Fe²⁺ and Ni²⁺over the Pd²⁺ ion concentration (1.0×10⁻³ M).