There is a lot interest in environmental mercury and its effect on human health. New probes to sense its presence in the environment are therefore of considerable value. Fundamental chemistry such as that described in our article must precede engineering approaches in order to fashion the appropriate devices as sensors. Obtaining a turn-on fluorescence sensor that works in aqueous solution with excellent specificity is a challenge that our work has addressed.

Yes. We can envision the fashioning of devices, including for example attachment to a solid support, for application in the field. One might even have a hand-held detection stick for use in testing fish at the market or even at the restaurant table based on our chemistry and needed improvements to come.

Mercury is an environmental pollutant and health hazard. A chemical that emits light upon encountering mercury in water could be of value in monitoring undesired levels of this element in a variety of everyday contexts.

This work is a natural extension of our NIH-supported study of mobile zinc in the central nervous system, especially the hippocampus in the brain. We have devised powerful new sensors for following zinc release in live brain slices. During the course of testing one class of these molecules for zinc specificity, we discovered this remarkably specific mercury response. Mercury was examined since it is a congener of zinc in the periodic table.