A Benzothiazole Derived Fluorescent Sensor for Real-time Detection of Aluminums Ion and Application in Real Samples and Living Cells.

Excessive aluminum ions (Al3+) contaminate environmental water bodies, and once they remain in the human body, they will pose a threat to human health. In this paper, a benzothiazole-based fluorescent sensor named BHMH for detecting Al3+ was successfully synthesized and comprehensively characterized. It exhibited remarkable selectivity and sensitivity, manifested by a substantial fluorescence augmentation and a discernible color alteration in the presence of Al3+. The job plot, 1H NMR titration and HRMS demonstrated that the BHMH and Al3+ complex exhibited a 1:1 stoichiometric binding affinity. Furthermore, the limit of detection (LOD) for Al3+ was calculated as 4 × 10-8 M. Additionally, BHMH demonstrated successful application in the precise detection of Al3+ across diverse aqueous samples, test papers and cell imaging within living HSC cells.