A highly selective fluorescence-enhanced chemosensor for Al3+ in aqueous solution based on a hybrid ligand from BINOL scaffold and β-amino alcohol

A chemosensor (R)-OH bearing an amino alcohol group was synthesized for the highly selective fluorescent recognition of Al3+ with low limit of detection (16 ppb). “Turn-on” type fluorescence changes were observed upon the addition of Al3+ in aqueous solution. The significant enhancement (35.4-fold) of fluorescence intensity was ascribed to the complex formation between (R)-OH and Al3+ which denoted as the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) process.