Novel chemosensor for the visual detection of copper(II) in aqueous solution at the ppm level.

A new water-soluble, multisite-coordinating ligand LH(7) was prepared by the condensation of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane with 2,6-diformyl-p-cresol. LH(7) is a selective chemosensor for Cu(2+), under physiological conditions, with visual detection limits of 20 ppm (ambient light conditions) and 4 ppm (UV light conditions). LH(7) can also be used in biological cell lines for the detection of Cu(2+).