Interaction of a naphthalene based fluorescent probe with Al3+: experimental and computational studies

Abstract

The synthesis, characterization and selective interaction of a naphthalene based fluorescent probe (L) with Al3+ is described. The detection limit of L for Al3+ is 4.8 × 10−7 M. L can efficiently detect Al3+ in living cells under a fluorescence microscope. Experimentally observed structural and spectroscopic features of L and its Al3+complex have been substantiated by computational calculations using density functional theory.