Diethylaminophenol appended pyrimidine bis hydrazone for the sequential detection of Al3+ and PPi ions

[Display omitted] •The synthesized probe exhibits selective sequential detection towards Al3+ and PPi ions.•Binding characteristics were validated by calculating association constants and detection limits.•PPi addition led to turn-off fluorescence with in-situ prepared HD-Al3+ ensemble.•The sensing characteristics of the probe were utilized for various applications.•Paper strip and swab experiments were performed to analyze the practical utility of HD. In this study, a novel easy-to-prepare diethylaminophenol appended pyrimidine bis hydrazone (HD) has been designed and developed. The probe exhibits excellent sequential sensing characteristics towards Al3+ and PPi ions. The emission studies, various spectroscopic techniques and lifetime results have been utilized to understand the binding mechanism of HD with Al3+ ions and, to discover the specificity as well as the efficacy of the probe in sensing Al3+ ions. The good association constant in addition to the lower detection limit values makes the probe effective for the detection of Al3+. The in-situ produced HD-Al3+ ensemble could consecutively detect PPi via a turn-off fluorescence response and the selectivity and sensitivity characteristics of the generated ensemble towards PPi were described based on the demetallation approach. The overall sensing property of HD was perfectly employed for constructing logic gates, real water, and tablet applications. Paper strips, as well as cotton-swab experiments, were also conducted inorder to check the practical utility of the synthesized probe.