Indole-based Fluorometric and Colorimetric Chemosensors for the Selective Detection of Cu2+: A Brief Review From the Year 2011-2021

The development of chemosensors has been driven by concurrently advanced research in fluorescence and colorimetric chemosensing. Over the last few decades, the development of copper ion-selective fluorogenic and chromogenic chemosensors has been extensively studied due to their high sensitivity, low cost, and simplicity. They can interact with the metal ion in a unique manner and create measurable color, fluorescence, or redox potential changes. Copper (Cu2+) ion is deemed the third most prevalent transition metal in human beings owing to its various biological and physiological processes. It has drawn a great deal of attention from many researchers in various disciplines such as biology, medicine, and environmental studies. However, an excessive buildup of copper in the body has been linked to several diseases. Thus, more recent research is being focused on developing fluorometric and colorimetric chemosensors for the selective detection of copper ions. Recently, there have been a lot of studies reported in this field of study that describe highly sensitive and sophisticated indole-based chemosensors for various metal ions of interest. In addition, indole derivatives possess inherent fluorescence properties due to their electron-rich nature caused by the π-excessive system of indole, and therefore they can be employed in chemosensors for metal ion detection. Both cations and anions employ it as a molecular recognition system. This review summarizes selective and sensitive Cu2+ ion detection accomplished byvarious indole-based chemosensors between the years 2011 to 2021. Furthermore, sensor design, sensing methods, ligand-metal binding stoichiometry, association constant, and the detection limit by the chemosensors are all summarized and explored. Keywords: Indole, Fluorescent chemosensors, Colorimetric chemosensors, Cu2+, Turn-on, Turn-off