A new fluorescent probe LXY based on the rhodamine 6G platforms has been designed, synthesized, and characterized, which could recognize Fe³⁺ effectively in HEPES buffer (10 mM, pH = 7.4)/CH₃CN (2:3, v/v). And the distinct color change and the rapid emergence of fluorescence emission at 550 nm achieved “naked eye” detection of Fe³⁺. The interaction mode between them was achieved by Job’s plot, MS, SEM, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. Importantly, the crystal structures proved that Fe³⁺ could induce the rhodamine moiety transform the closed-cycle form to the open-cycle form. But it is interesting that Fe³⁺ did not appear in the crystal structures. Meanwhile, the limit of detection (LOD) of LXY to Fe³⁺ was calculated to be 3.47 × 10^–9. In addition, the RGB experiment, test papers, and silica gel plates all indicated that the probe LXY could be used to distinguish Fe³⁺ quantitatively and qualitatively on-site. Moreover, the probe LXY has also been successfully applied to Fe³⁺ image in Caenorhabditis elegans, adult mice, and plant tissues. Thus, LXY was considered to have some potential for application in bioimaging.

A new fluorescent probe L based on the rhodamine 6G platforms for Fe³⁺ has been designed and synthesised. L showed excellent selectivity and high sensitivity for Fe³⁺ against other metal ions such as K⁺, Na⁺, Ag⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Hg²⁺, Ce³⁺ and Y³⁺ in HEPES buffer (10 mM, pH 7.4)/CH₃CN (40:60, V/V). The distinct color change and the rapid emergence of fluorescence emission provided naked-eyes detection for Fe³⁺. The recognition mechanism of the probe toward Fe³⁺ was evaluated by Job’s plots, IR and ESI-MS. In order to further study their fluorescent properties, L + Fe³⁺ fluorescence lifetime was also measured. Moreover, the test strip results showed that these probes could act as a convenient and efficient Fe³⁺ test kit.

An efficient multi-component reaction to synthesize multi-substituted 1,3-oxazolidine compounds of high optical purity was described. All the products were well-characterized and the absolute configuration of one chiral center was determined. The plausible mechanism was proposed and a kinetic resolution of epoxides process was confirmed.