2,4,5-Trisubstituted imidazole derivatives with heteroaromatic groups are versatile heterocyclic compounds exhibiting a wide range of biological activities, as well as very interesting thermal, optical, electronic and redox properties. In the past years, this type of imidazole derivatives has been explored as optical colorimetric and fluorimetric chemosensors due to their ability to coordinate with ions with biological and environmental relevance.

In order to continue the work developed by the research group, we report the synthesis and characterization using usual spectroscopic techniques (NMR, absorption and emission spectroscopies) of a new imidazole derivative, substituted at position 2 of the imidazole with an 8-hydroxy-quinoline group. Furthermore, to complement the characterization of the synthesized imidazole compound, a preliminary study as an optical chemosensor was carried out in acetonitrile in the presence of ions with biological, medicinal and environmental relevance.