Heterobimetallic Ru(II)−Eu(III) Complex as Chemodosimeter for Selective Biogenic Amine Odorants Detection in Fish Sample

Gaseous biogenic amines such as putrescine, spermidine, aniline, and trimethylamine are important biomolecules that play many crucial roles in metabolism and medical diagnostics. A chemodosimetric detection assay has been developed for those gaseous amines by RuII−EuIII heterobimetallic complexes, K{[RuII(tBubpy)(CN)4]2EuIII(H2O)4} (where tBubpy = 4,4′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine). Synthesis, X-ray crystal characterization, and spectroscopic properties of this RuII−EuIII heterobimetallic complex were reported. Binding properties of the RuII−EuIII complex with common gases revealed that this complex is very selective to gaseous amine molecules. Sensitivity of this complex toward the amines was found as ∼log k = 4.5−4.8. Real time monitoring of gaseous biogenic amines was applied to real fish samples (Atlantic mackerel) by studying the spectrofluorimetric responses of the RuII−EuIII complex toward different biogenic amine concentration. GC/MS studies were also used as a reference for the studies. A linear spectrofluorimetric response was found toward biogenic amine concentration in real fish samples. This complex was found to respond specifically to those biogenic amines down to 10 ppb.