Synthesis of Ferrocenyl Chalcone-Containing Aminourea Schiff Bases and Their Detection on Tryptophan

In this paper, 1-phenyl-3-ferrocenylenone aminourea Schiff bases were synthesized by a novel method. A multifunctional molecular probe (Probe A) of 1-phenyl-3-ferrocenylenone, carbon-based solid acid, aminourea, and anhydrous ethanol was synthesized by adding them to a vessel at elevated temperatures and refluxing for the synthesis of a multifunctional molecular probe (Probe A) of 1-phenyl-3-ferrocenylenone aminourea Schiff base, and it was found that it recognizes tryptophan (Trp) in solution, and that the catalyst can be reused more than five times after recycling. This method is characterised by low cost, high efficiency, green environment and no waste acid. Fluorescence and UV spectra show that probe A specifically recognizes tryptophan (Trp) without interference by other amino acids or pH and time does not affect it within 45 min. The lowest limit of detection for Trp was 1.307 × 10^− 4 mol/L for probe A. The binding ratios of probe A to Trp were measured to be 1:1 by Job’s plotting method, respectively. The complexation constant of probe A with Trp was found to be 2.733 × 10⁷ L/mol according to the Benesi-Hildebrand equation. The bonding mechanism was explored through IR spectroscopy and ¹H NMR titration.