A highly sensitive sensor for ethyl acetate by changing fluorescent colour of lanthanide complex.

A lanthanide complex, namely, [La2 (L-DBTA)3 (CH3 OH)2 (H2 O)2 ]∙2H2O has been synthesized using a simple reaction of L-O,O´-dibenzoyl tartaric acid with LaCl3 ∙6H2 O under ambient temperature. The luminescence spectrum in the solid state at room temperature revealed that the complex exhibited blue-light emission that originated from ligand. In addition, the lanthanide complex is developed as a fluorescent probe for sensing small molecules. Luminescence studies reveal that the lanthanide complex could detect ethyl acetate sensitively through fluorescence colour change from blue to yellow. Furthermore, the complex exhibited appealing features including high sensitivity and an ultrafast response.