Simple synthesis and sensing applications of a new and low cost fluorescent chemosensor for selective recognition and facile removal of Hg2

[Display omitted] •New easily prepared benzothiazolyl-based Hg2+ sensor was developed.•The sensor NETBZ exhibited remarkable fluorescence quench for the sensitive and selective quantification of Hg2+.•The detection limit sensing for Hg2+ in in CH3CN: HEPES (70/30, v/v, pH: 7.0) media was estimated to be 14.3 nM. A novel 5-(2-Benzothiazolyl)-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (ALD) based probe NETBZ has been fabricated as a fluorogenic probe for sensitive detection of Hg2+ ions in CH3CN:HEPES (70/30, v/v, pH: 7.0) media. The probe NETBZ exhibited turn-off behavior from blue to colorless under UV light, in the presence of Hg2+ with limit of detection (LOD) (3σ/K) of 14.3 nM. In the presence of various cations (Mn2+, Cr3+, Ba2+, K+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Fe2+, Sr2+, Pb2+, Fe3+ and Al3+), no significant changes were observed in its spectral patterns. The mechanism of the NETBZ-Hg2+ system could be thanks to chelation-enhanced fluorescence quenching (CHEQ), which was further confirmed by DFT computation, Job’s method, and also 1H-NMR titration. The binding constant of probe NETBZ with Hg2+ from the Benesi-Hildebrand equation was found as 3.67 × 1015 M−3. Furthermore, new fluorescence strips based on TLC plate application for NETBZ and NETBZ-Hg2+ system was fabricated.