A novel development of dithizone as a dual-analyte colorimetric chemosensor: detection and determination of cyanide and cobalt (II) ions in dimethyl sulfoxide/water media with biological applications.

The behavior of dithizone (DTZ), an easily available dye has been studied for the first time in chromogenic sensing of CN(-) as an anionic species and for Co(2+) as a cationic species in DMSO/H2O media. So employing DTZ an efficient colorimetric chemosensor was afforded with a chromogenic selectivity for Co(2+) over other cations with detection limit of 0.04 μmol L(-1). The complex of Co(2+) with DTZ also displayed ability to detect up to 0.43 μmol L(-1) CN(-) (K(+) salts) among other competing anions through a fast response time of less than 30s which is much lower than most recently reported chromogenic probes. The linear dynamic ranges for the determination of Co(2+) and CN(-) were 0.3-4.4 and 3.3-58.6 μmol L(-1) respectively. This method could have potential application in a variety of cases requiring rapid and accurate analysis of Co(2+) and CN(-) for human serum and water samples.