Hugo Schiff (1864), was the first who synthesized Schiff bases by the condensation reaction of primary amines with carbonyl compounds (aldehyde or ketone). Schiff bases display several structural and electronic features that allow their application in different fields, ranging from medicinal to chemosensing. Schiff bases coordinate with various metal ions and form stable complexes. Due to their excellent coordination ability, Schiff bases are used as fluorescent turn-on/turn-off and colorimetric chemosensors for the detection of different metal cations including Ag⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pd²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Al³⁺ in different samples. This review article covers a wide range of Schiff bases used in chemosensing applications for various metal ions (e.g., monovalent, divalent and trivalent cations) in different biological, agricultural and environmental media.

Hugo Schiff (1864) 是第一个通过伯胺与羰基化合物（醛或酮）的缩合反应合成席夫碱的人。席夫碱显示出多种结构和电子特征，使其可应用于从医学到化学传感的不同领域。席夫碱与各种金属离子配位并形成稳定的络合物。由于其优异的配位能力，席夫碱被用作荧光开启/关闭和比色化学传感器，用于检测不同的金属阳离子，包括 Ag ⁺、Cu ²⁺、Co ²⁺、Mn ²⁺、Cd ²⁺、 Hg ²⁺ , Ni ²⁺ , Zn ²⁺ , Pd ²⁺、Fe ³⁺和Al ³⁺在不同样品中。这篇综述文章涵盖了广泛的席夫碱，用于不同生物、农业和环境介质中各种金属离子（例如，一价、二价和三价阳离子）的化学传感应用。