A new selective phenanthroline-based fluorescent chemosensor for Co2+

An intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) chromophore 2-(2-pyridine)imidazo [4,5,f]-1,10-phenanthroline (1) has been synthesized and firstly used as a chemosensor with a reversible, ‘on–off’ sensing capability for biologically and environmentally significant Co2+ in DMF under buffered conditions. The experiment results also show that the response behavior of 1 to Co2+ is pH independent in range of pH 3.0–7.0 and show excellent selectivity for Co2+ over other cations.