New imidazole sensors synthesized for copper (II) detection in aqueous solutions

Water security, safety, availability and sustainability of water supply are increasingly problematic and difficult across the planet. Safe and rapid methods have been developed to purify water from cationic pollutants. New imidazole-derived fluorescent sensors, 2-(4,5-diphenyl-1-(p-tolyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl) phenol (TS) and 2-(1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl) phenol (AS), have been synthesized and characterized, and their possibility as fluorescence sensors for copper (II) has been examined. In CH3CN/H2O (90 v/v), the TS and AS revealed a noticeable an electronic band at 320.00 nm and fluorescence band at 460.90 nm. The ratio metric alterations in the absorption and fluorescence spectra of TS and AS due to the dative covalent bond between them and the copper (II) were shown by the findings of copper (II) titration. The sensing mechanism was validated by optical investigations and FT-IR spectra. In mixed solvent solutions, the selectivity of TS and AS to copper (II) as fluorescent sensors has been demonstrated, with sensitivity as low as 0.09 and 0.28 µM, significantly less than the limit permitted via the US EPA for drinking water (2.00 µM). The identification limits of TS and AS were assessed to be 0.05 and 0.50 µM, respectively, using the spectrophotometric procedure. Stoichiometry binding between TS and AS with copper (II) was found to be 2:1 (tetrahedral structure) as indicated by Job's method.