In this study, a novel pyrazine-derived fluorescent sensor bearing the furan unit (1) has been designed, synthesized and characterized. This sensor 1 showed large enhancement in the fluorescence emission intensity at 517 nm in the presence of Al3+ and it also showed high selectivity and sensitivity for Al3+ over other common environmentally and biologically important metal ions, as the detection limit of 1 towards Al3+ could reach 10−7 mol L−1. Moreover, the enhancement of fluorescence emission intensity was attributed to the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) phenomenon upon complexation of 1 with Al3+.
