A water soluble non-fluorescent biofriendly cell permeable structurally characterised copper(ii) complex (1) selectively senses HSO4− ions as low as 3.18 × 10−7 M in water : DMSO (9 : 1, v/v) HEPES buffer at biological pH.
A fluorescent sensor based on aggregation-induced emission for amines was prepared and its highly sensitive detection of hydrazine and application in living cell imaging were investigated in detail.