A biphasic mercury-ion sensor: exploiting microfluidics to make simple anilines competitive ligands.

Combining the molecular wire effect with a biphasic sensing approach (analyte in water, sensor-dye in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran) and a microfluidic flow setup leads to the construction of a mercury-sensitive module. We so instantaneously detect Hg(2+) ions in water at a 500 μM concentration. The sensor, conjugated non-water soluble polymer 1 (XFPF), merely supports dibutylaniline substituents as binding units. Yet, selective and sensitive detection of Hg(2+) -ions is achieved in water. The enhancement in sensory response, when comparing the reference compound 2 to that of 1 in a biphasic system in a microfluidic chip is >10(3) . By manipulation of the structure of 1, further powerful sensor systems should be easily achieved.