Early detection of probes is very important for limiting toxic effects of various transition
metal ions for example
aluminum and
zinc. Monitoring of these
metal ions can be challenging via conventional methods since they are high cost instrumentations, time consuming and so on. We report facile preparation of a fluorescence probe containing
biphenyl groups that effectively selective and superb sensitivity towards
aluminum (III) and
zinc (II) in neutral solutions without interference from each other and other
ions. In neutral pH value, the probe FOB displayed the OFF-ON fluorescence enhancement at 464 nm and 512 nm toward
aluminum (III) and
zinc (II), respectively. The detection limit values of FOB for Al3+ and Zn2+ in neutral solutions were 1.27 and 1.02 nM, respectively and these values were significantly lower than permitted Al3+ and Zn2+ concentrations in
drinking water determined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Water Quality. Also, fabricated cyano-
biphenyl based probe is effective for sensing for
aluminum (III) and
zinc (II) in living human
colon cancer cells even when employed at low concentrations (1.0 μM). Overall, this work allows us to obtain a great potential to be applied to detect Al3+ and Zn2+.