Lighting Up Fluorescence: Precise Recognition of Halogenated Solvents Through Effective Fluorescence Detection Using Chalcone Derivatives as a D-A-D-A-type Fluorescent Chemosensor.

Abstract

In this paper, we report a D-A-D-A-type fluorescence sensor, FX, composed of triphenylamine and pyrazine units as electron donors, pyridine units, and α-β unsaturated carbon-based structures as electron acceptors. FX exhibits typical ICT characteristics. As a dual-emission material, FX undergoes acid-base-induced color changes and displays mechanofluorochromic properties in the solid state. In solution, FX, as an AIE material, shows significant fluorescence enhancement behavior in most halogenated solvents. Notably, it achieves a high quantum yield of 0.672 in a chloroform solution. We utilized this phenomenon to quantitatively detect chloroform through fluorescence titration analysis, with a detection limit of 0.061%. Additionally, we developed a test paper to verify the practical applicability of the sensor for detecting halogenated solvents. The fluorescence enhancement behavior was confirmed through DFT calculations. The results indicate that FX is not only a multifunctional dual-state emission material but also provides valuable references for the fluorescence detection of halogenated solvents.