A new diarylethene based chemosensor for colorimetric recognition of arginine and fluorescent detection of Cu2

A new dual-functional chemosensor based on diarylethene was synthesized. It not only acted as a colorimetric sensor for detecting arginine in the closed-ring isomer, but also served as a fluorescence sensor for detecting Cu2+ in the ring-open isomer. [Display omitted] •This paper reports a new multi-functional chemosensor based on photochromic diarylethene with a benzothiazolinone unit.•The chemosensor could recognize Arg and Cu2+ in different solvents with colorimetric and fluorescent method, respectively.•The chemosensor could be made into test paper for recognizing Cu2+ with naked eyes.•The chemosensor could be applied to the detection of Cu2+ in practical samples with high accuracy. A novel diarylethene derivative with a benzothiazolinone hydrazone unit was synthesized as a new chemical sensor, the photochemical properties and ion selectivity were studied. It not only acted as a colorimetric sensor for detecting arginine in the ring-closed isomer, but also served as a fluorescence sensor for detecting Cu2+ in the ring-open isomer. When various metal ions were added to the sensor solution respectively, only Cu2+ resulted in an obvious quenching of fluorescence, and the fluorescence color changes from yellow to black. What's more, upon the addition of arginine, the color of the ring-closed isomer's solution changed from purple to blue, which was attributed to the proton transfer from ring-closed isomer to arginine, it can be proved by 1H NMR spectrum. Furthermore, the chemosensor could also be made into test papers for detecting Cu2+ in actual water samples.