Highly selective colorimetric sensing pyrophosphate in water by a NBD-phenoxo-bridged dinuclear Zn(ii) complex

Abstract

A novel NBD-phenoxo-bridged dinuclear Zn(II) complex is found to be an effective colorimetric sensor for pyrophosphate (PPi) in pure aqueous solution over a wide pH range. This sensor shows high binding affinity (K(a)≈ 3 × 10(8) M(-1)) and high selectivity for PPi, and can be also used to assay the activity of pyrophosphatase in real time.