A Highly Selective Sensor for Cyanide in Organic Media and on Solid Surfaces

The application of IR 786 perchlorate (IR-786) as a selective optical sensor for cyanide anion in both organic solution (acetonitrile (MeCN), 100%) and solvent-free solid surfaces was demonstrated. In MeCN, IR-786 was selective to two anions in the following order: CN- > OH-. A significant change in the characteristic dark green color of IR-786 in MeCN to yellow was observed as a result of nucleophilic addition of CN- to the fluorophore, i.e., formation of IR 786-(CN), which was also verified by a blue shift in the 775 nm absorbance peak to 430 nm. A distinct green fluorescence emission from the IR-786-(CN) in MeCN was also observed, which demonstrated the selectivity of IR-786 towards CN- in MeCN. Fluorescence emission studies of IR-786 showed that the lower detection limit and the sensitivity of IR-786 for CN- in MeCN was 0.5 mu M and 0.5 to 8 mu M, respectively. The potential use of IR-786 as a solvent-free solid state sensor for the selective sensing and monitoring of CN- in the environment was also demonstrated. On solvent-free solid state surfaces, the sensitivity of the IR-786 to CN- in water samples was in the range of 50-300 mu M with minimal interference by OH-.