Imidazole‐Oxadiazole‐Centered Nanomolar Detection of Pb ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ . and Cu ²⁺ : Theoretical Unde

ABSTRACT

The health of both individuals and ecosystems are seriously threatened by the heavy metal ion contaminant Pb ²⁺ . The traditional techniques for identifying Pb ²⁺ have a number of drawbacks like application to real sample analysis and in vivo bioimaging studies. Herein, an efficient chemosensor for the sensing of Pb ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ and Cu ²⁺ ions has been produced belonging to imidazole‐oxadiazole cores. The sensing efficacy of 2‐(1‐(4‐(5‐(4‐(tert‐butyl)phenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazol‐2‐yl)phenyl)‐4,5‐diphenyl‐1 H ‐imidazol‐2‐yl)‐4‐(diethylamino)phenol (DTB) was evaluated in acetonitrile:H ₂ O medium. The probe DTB confirmed its extraordinary sensitivity concerning the metal ions Pb ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ and Cu ²⁺ with very low limit of detection (LOD) of 29 nM for Pb ²⁺ _, 21 nM for Zn ²⁺ and 33 nM for Cu ²⁺ . Unlike previously reported single‐core chemosensors, DTB uniquely integrates imidazole and 1,3,4‐oxadiazole motifs into a single fluorescent platform, enabling nanomolar detection of Pb ^{2 +} , Zn ^{2 +} and Cu ^{2 +} together with intracellular metal‐ion imaging in zebrafish embryos.