LAUSR

Abstract Development of a new chemosensor is challenging, because it has to deliver sensitiveness, selectiveness, reproducibility, robustness, and the least number of interfering analytes. In this sense coordination chemistry can offer an attractive approach to the problem. Diethyl 2-(9-fluorenyl) malonate (DEFM) was found to be an efficient fluorosensor for Fe3+ ions in ethanolic solutions, showing fluorescence quenching of 99% in the concentration range of 0.1–1.0 μmol L−1, and most importantly, with no effect of interfering ions. Theoretical calculations supported photoelectron transfer (PET) mechanism to explain the fluorescence suppression observed. The method passed several analytical tests and showed the limit of detection and the limit of quantification at 15.56 and 51.85 nmol L−1, respectively. The sensor passed a series of analytical tests and proved to be an attractive low-cost approach for Fe3+ quantification in ethanol fuel.