Water soluble and fluorescent copolymers as highly sensitive and selective fluorescent chemosensors for the detection of cyanide anions in biological media

We report a simple colorimetric method based on a water soluble polymer (WSP) for the sensitive and selective detection of cyanide in a biological solution. The WSPs were prepared from a radical polymerization of a methacrylate with a cyanide chemosensor moiety based on a coumarin-dicyano-vinyl derivative motif, and the polymer was then rendered water soluble by copolymerizing this hydrophobic monomer with other glyco-conjugated methacrylate derivatives. The lowest concentration for the quantification of cyanide ions was 0.05 mu M, and the polymer exhibited nearly no calorimetric response to the presence of other common anions. Therefore, the chemical incorporation of some carbohydrates, as lactose or its usual monosaccharide moieties (glucose, lactose), represents a new method for the implementation of polymers for the detection of cyanide anions in water, exhibiting both good selectivity and efficiency.