Lead poisoning causes complications such as stunted growth, learning disabilities, convulsions, comas, and even death. Even though there are regulations regarding its use now that it is known how toxic it is, lead can still be found in some metal pipes, paint, and glassware. While there are many routes of exposure, contaminated drinking water is still a major issue, as seen in the recent Flint, Michigan situation. Drinking water becomes contaminated from corrosion of pipes in household plumbing systems. Currently, to have a home’s water tested for lead, one must collect a water sample and send it to a certified laboratory to have it tested. We have found that certain aryl imines exhibit colorimetric and/or fluorimetric changes in the presence of aqueous metal cations, including Pb<sup>2+</sup>. Some imines react selectively with metal ions in aqueous media. For example, we found one imine that reacts with calcium and magnesium ions and fluoresces. Using this imine, we were able to determine our supply of deionized water was contaminated with hard water ions. We have found a few other imines that seem to be selective for lead ion. Our goal is to screen our library of over 200 imines to find candidates for evaluation of lead sensitivity in low concentrations. Our target sensitivity is around 15 ppb, which is the EPA recommended threshold for lead in drinking water. We eventually hope to develop an in- home metal ion testing kit that does not require outside testing.

Evaluation of imines as cation sensors in water samples

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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