Dual-functional porphyrinic zirconium-based metal–organic framework for the fluorescent sensing of histidine enantiomers and Hg2+

A novel fluorescence sensor based on a porphyrinic zirconium-based metal–organic framework, L-cysteine-modified PCN-222 (L-Cys/PCN-222), was developed to selectively recognize histidine enantiomers and sensitively detect Hg2+. The dual-functional sensor was successfully prepared via the solvent-assisted ligand incorporation method and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analyses. L-Cys/PCN-222 not only showed a higher quenching response for L-histidine than that for D-histidine with a fast fluorescent response rate of <40 s but also exhibited low detection limits for L- and D-histidine (2.48 μmol L−1 and 3.85 μmol L−1, respectively). Moreover, L-Cys/PCN-222 was employed as a fluorescent and visual sensor for the highly sensitive detection of Hg2+ in the linear range of 10–500 μmol L−1, and the detection limit was calculated to be 2.79 μmol L−1 in surface water. The specific and selective recognition of chiral compounds and metal ions by our probe make it suitable for real field applications.