A novel highly selective FRET sensor for Fe(III) and DFT mechanistic evaluation.

A novel FRET-based sensor has been designed and developed through the conjugation of naphthyl and rhodamine via propylamine spacer, Naph-Rh. The naphthyl moiety serves as a FRET donor due to its emission spectrum overlapping with the rhodamine B absorption band. Naph-Rh exhibited a selectivity for sensing Fe over other metal ions with a visual color change and fluorescent enhancement.