Coumarin-Cu(II) ensemble-based cyanide sensing chemodosimeter.

An "ensemble"-based chemodosimeter 1-Cu(II) for cyanide detection is reported. 1-Cu(II) can recognize a cyanide ion over other anionic species to show a marked fluorescence enhancement under aqueous conditions. "Off-on" fluorescence change of 1-Cu(II) is proceeded by addition of cyanide, which induces decomplexation of the Cu(II) ion from nonfluorescent 1 followed by hydrolytic cleavage of the resulted Schiff base to give a strongly fluorescent coumarinaldehyde (2). The selective detection of cyanide with 1-Cu(II) for biological application was also performed in HepG2 cells.