A rhodamine B–benzofurazan based probe (1) for Fe3+ and Hg2+ was synthesized.
1 can fluorescent respond to Fe3+ and Hg2+ simultaneously in different solutions.
In aqueous solution, 1 shows “enhancement” response to Fe3+ at low concentration.
In aqueous solution, 1 shows “turn-on” response to Fe3+ at high concentration.
1 displays “turn-on” response to Hg2+ with a detection limit of 4.4 nM in ethanol.