Vanillin based thioether Schiff base (H2L) is a hexadentate N2O2S2 donor ligand.
Upon addition Zn2+ ion to H2L enhances emission in presence of other ions.
The [Zn–L] complex formation is established by Job’s plot, NMR titration and mass spectral data.
H2L has been used for imaging and sensing Zn2+ ions in Vero Cells.
DFT computation of ligand and complex is used for spectral interpretation.