Heavy metal ion pollution poses severe risks for human health and the environment. The sensitive detection of heavy metal ions, such as mercuric ion is currently a task of prime importance for environmental and biological applications. An electrochemical method for the selective detection of Hg2+ ions has been developed using new ferrocene derivatives 2-((bis(2-(ethylthio)ethylamino)methyl)-N-ferrocenylmethyl H1A and 2-(ethylthiomethyl)-N-ferrocenylmethyl aniline H2A. These compounds were synthesized in good yield and characterized by general spectroscopic tools. The electrochemical response of these compounds upon the specific metal ion binding was measured italic cyclic voltammetry (CV). Upon adding mercuric ions into the solution of H1A or H2A, the oxidation peaks of H1A or H2A are shifted to the negative voltage compared to the oxidation potential of the mercury free H1A or H2A. In the case of H1A, we observed only the shift of oxidation peaks potential. But in H2A case, besides the oxidation peaks potential shifts, a new potential waves was formed in the investigative potential range. In both cases, compared to other metal ions, mercuric ion shows higher binding affinity which is exposing the possibility of the application to an electrochemical mercuric ion-sensor.
