Recent developments in pyrene-based fluorescence recognition and imaging of Ag+ and Pb2+ ions: Synthesis, applications and challenges

Contamination of heavy metals in the environment is a burning and contemporary issue of modern life. Whilst lead contamination is historic, the ongoing extensive use of lead in batteries is likely to continue to cause serious environmental problems. Silver ions also present multiple environmental issues, such as bioaccumulation and toxicity. As a result, these two heavy metal ions have a high impact from an environmental and industrial point of view. Thus, the colorimetric and fluorescence detection of these two metal ions has been the subject of intense research during the last decade and pyrene-based fluorophores have played a crucial role in their detection. This review article summarizes the recent chronological progress on pyrene moiety integrated small molecule chemosensors for the colorimetric and fluorescent detection of silver and lead ions. Herein, the different strategies that have been utilized for the recognition of lead and silver ions are discussed. Throughout, the juxtaposition of structural aspects of the chemosensors and their sensitivity has been scrutinized together with an overview and future vision.