Highly selective fluorescent chemosensor for Fe3+ imaging in living cells

2-Hydroxybenzyl dansyl cadaverine (DNSCH) was designed as a fluorescent chemosensor for Fe3+. DNSCH exhibited significant FL quenching with increasing concentrations of Fe3+. The presence of 15 M equiv of Fe3+ significantly quenched the FL intensity of DNSCH. The binding constant of DNSCH towards Fe3+ was determined and found to be 1.5 ± 0.4 × 10−4 M−1. DNSCH was employed as an intracellular chemosensor for Fe3+.