Nerve gas agents are colorless, often odorless, deadly chemical weapons and therefore, the detection of such compounds is imperative. Europium complexes have been reported to detect V-type nerve agents due to the high affinity of Eu3+ towards such nerve agents. Here we report two novel Eu3+ complexes to detect G-type nerve agents. Two novel Eu3+ complex bearing different rhodamine-B derivatives were synthesized (Complex 1 and 2). The binding rhodamine-B derivatives with Eu3+ was studied using UV-Visible spectroscopy and the binding stoichiometry was determined by Job’s plot. Complex 1 showed an absorption band at 527 nm while complex 2 showed an absorption band at 555 nm acetonitrile. The binding of nerve gas mimic (diethylchlorophosphate) with complex 1 resulted decreasing the absorption at 527 nm while appearing a new absorption band at 555 nm confirming the association of diethylchlorophosphate with rhodamine-B derivative causing them to leave the Eu3+ complex. In contrast, complex 2 displayed an increase in absorption at 555 nm also confirming the association of the ligand with the analyte. The importance of structural variations of these rhodamine-B derivatives in nerve gas binding will be further discussed.

Two novel Eu3+-Rhodamine-B derivative complexes as sensors to detect G-type nerve gas agents

2019 Spring National Meeting

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