Pure DMSO Research Articles

Synthesis and characterization of 3,5-bis((2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzamide and Zn(II) complex: Investigation of chromic, fluorescence and DPPH radical scavenging behaviours

Novel amido-Schiff base 3,5-bis((2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzamide (2a) has been obtained by the reaction of Schiff base 1a with 2-hydroxyaniline in the presence of coupling agent N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Schiff base (1a) which serves as the starting compound in amide synthesis was produced from the condensation of 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid with salicylaldehyde in a 1:2 mol ratio. Tetrahedral geometry with 1:1 [M:L] stoichiometry Zn(II) complex (3a) was newly synthesized by the complexation reaction of ligand 2a with zinc(II) nitrate. 1a and 2a displayed a broad emission band at λem = 456 and 472 nm with a blue fluorescent in pure DMSO, while 3a emitted a strong greenish-blue fluorescent with the λem = 485 nm (λexc = 365 nm). The fluorescence efficiency of 1a was poor compared to the others. The λem in aqueous DMSO solution (v/v, 1:1) had ∼8–33 nm red-shift with respect to that of pure solution. The λem gave ∼1–15 nm red-shift with very low emission efficiency in acidic DMSO media. The results suggested that the aggregation caused quenching properties of 1a–3a in pure, aqueous, and acidic DMSO system with a 50 % water fraction. The fluorescence of the compounds appeared to be visibly very bright in basic DMSO media. All the compounds were also screened for antioxidant activity using UV–Vis spectroscopy. They were found to be not effective DPPH radical scavengers in DMSO.

Pyridazine‐Based Aggregation Induced Emission Active Conjugates: Synthesis, Single Crystal XRD Analysis, and Self‐Assembly Assessment

AbstractIn the present investigation, pyridazine based two aggregation induced emission (AIE) active conjugates ((pyridazine‐3,6‐diylbis(oxy)) bis(4,1‐phenylene))bis(pheny lmethanone) DBPC and 2,2′‐(((pyridazine‐3,6‐diylbis (oxy)) bis(4,1‐phenylene))bis (phenylmethaneylylidene))dimalono nitrile DDPC were successfully designed and synthesized. Further, the conjugates DBPC and DDPC were crystallized, and their molecular structures have been determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction. The light absorption and emission properties of both conjugates have been explored using UV‐Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The conjugates DBPC and DDPC in pure DMSO were in molecular form and weak emissive. The conjugate DBPC demonstrates AIE property as the water percentage in DMSO increases from 50–90 %, but the conjugate DDPC exhibits AIE property as the water percentage increases from 50–80 %, and its emission get decreased at 90 %. Optical microscopic and FE‐SEM investigation revealed that in 70 % water fraction, conjugate DBPC generated several μm long strip like self‐assembled structures, while conjugate DDPC created several μm long fractal fiber like self‐assembled structures. The formation of strip‐like self‐assembled structures by DBPC and fractal fiber‐like self‐assembled structures by DDPC may be attributed to DDPC's more twisted structural geometry compared to DBPC.

Ethyl acetate production by Fischer esterification: use of excess of acetic acid and complete separation sequence

Abstract In this work, production of ethyl acetate (EtAc) using Fischer esterification between acetic acid (AcOH) and ethyl alcohol (EtOH) is presented. Batch kinetics was developed with EtOH as the limiting reactant to avoid the problems associated with unreacted ethanol in the final product. Regression was performed to estimate the parameters of the Langmuir Hinshelwood type kinetic equation. Reaction mass obtained during kinetics was subjected to separation and purification. Molecular sieves (MS) were used to remove water. Distillation (simple and extractive distillation – with entrainer, dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO) was used to obtain almost pure AcOH, EtOH, EtAc and DMSO. Future work in reactive separation environment is indicated. Use of EtOH as the limiting reactant, use of MS for water removal and complete separation sequence are important features of this work.

Intermolecular π-π interactions-induced aggregation based on bispyrene for ultrasensitive detection of picric acid (PA) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP)

It was still important to explore excimer emission-based fluorescence probes for nitroaromatics detection by formation or destruction of pyrene excimer with strong emission change. In this work, we have synthesized a simple bis(pyrene) derivative (BisPyH) and studied its optical behavior by using UV–vis and fluorescent spectroscopy. In pure DMSO solution, it emitted a weak blue fluorescence due to the formation of excimer states, on the contrary, the BisPyH in the DMSO/H2O (v/v, 1:1) mixture solution was self-assembled to form aggregates via intermolecular π-π interactions among pyrene units, giving almost 10-fold fluorescence enhancement compared to that in pure DMSO solution. The formed aggregates just offered a perfect platform for the selective detection PA and DNP explosives by quenching the bright green intermolecular-excimer emission in competitive environment. BisPyH exhibited a limit of detection (LOD) towards PA, and DNP as low as 7.32 × 10−8, and 8.11 × 10−8 M, respectively. Subsequently, the fluorescence quenching mechanism was demonstrated by the density functional theory (DFT), UV–vis and fluorescence spectra, SEM, and the quenching constants. Furthermore, filter paper strips and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates coated with BisPyH were able to detect PA and DNP in the practical application.

Guest-induced supramolecular helices and its application in L-Arg detection and L-Arg controlled reversible morphology modulation

A novel AIE supramolecular polymer (BPK) was synthesized by bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde) terephthalo hydrazone functionalized pillar [5]arene and cross-linked using a bis(4.4-dipyridinium salt)cross-linker via host-guest complexation. BPK exhibited strong aggregation-induced emission (AIE) in binary solutions of DMSO/H2O. BPK could be an AIE-based sensor with specific fluorescence sensing ability for L-Arg in water. The detection limit of BPK for L-Arg was 3.95 × 10−7 M, and other amino acids did not interfere with the sensing process. Moreover, in a pure DMSO solvent, BPK can self-assemble into a fibrous structure of the right-hand spiral by guest-induced supramolecular helices. At 80 % water content, BPK undergoes a morphological transformation into supramolecular polymer. Intriguingly, BPK exhibits a reversible transformation from a polymer to a nanosphere through the alternating addition of trifluoroacetic acid and arginine. Additionally, the fluorescence of BPK demonstrates an "on-off" switch. This phenomenon is attributed to the formation and disruption of intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The reversible manipulation of polymer materials' morphology and optical properties holds significant potential in biomedicine and smart materials.

Quantification and visual inspection of adipic dihydrazide in textile using a xanthylium-based ratiometric fluorescent probe.

Residual adipic dihydrazide (ADH) in textiles may react with formaldehyde to form hydrazone, which is a source of the formaldehyde pollutant indoors. In this paper, a xanthylium-based ratiometric fluorescent probe SH-Py was developed for ADH detection. The emission of SH-Py at 680 nm decreased, whereas that at 463 nm increased upon the addition of ADH in pure DMSO. The LOD was as low as 24.5 nM, and the possible sensing mechanism is presented. Good recoveries were observed in the standard recovery experiments of SH-Py for ADH detection in textiles. Moreover, the visualization of ADH in textiles was successfully achieved by spraying the probe solution and then inspecting it under a UV lamp. Additionally, SH-Py has the potential to quantify other aliphatic hydrazides in various samples.

A benzoxazole-triphenylamine conjugated fluorogenic probe for specific detection of sarin gas mimic diethylchlorophosphate.

In this study, an excellent chromo-fluorogenic PMPA probe, (E)-4-(((4-(benzoxazole-2-yl)phenyl)imino)methyl)-N,N-diphenylamine, is introduced for the detection of sarin gas mimic diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP) in solution and gaseous phases. On adding DCP into PMPA solution in a pure DMSO and water-DMSO (4 : 1) medium, it exhibits a hypsochromic shift from yellow to colorless and from no fluorescence to highly intense blue-violet photoluminescence via the formation of a phosphorylated PMPA-DCP product due to the inhibition of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The sensor could detect DCP in the presence of several other notorious guest analytes with a detection limit in the μM range. Moreover, to accomplish the on-spot detection of DCP and explore the practical applicability of the probe, a paper strip-based test kit, "dip-stick" method, and, more interestingly, a real sample analysis was demonstrated in spiked soil samples.

A New Azomethine Chemosensor for Naked-Eye Detection of CN− and AcOˉ: Application to Determination of Cyanide in Some Agro-Products and Poisoned Human Blood Samples

A new symmetrical azomethine probe, H2L, has been synthesized via a condensation reaction of N, N´-Ethylene bis (3-formyl-5-methyl salicylaldimine), with Isonicotinic hydrazide in EtOH. The anion recognition studies exhibited that H2L acts as a chemosensor for the detection of CN− and AcO− in pure DMSO and DMSO/H2O 90:10(V/V) media over other basic anions such as F−, Cl−, Br−, I−, N3 −, SO4 2−, SO3 2−, PO4 3−, H2PO4 −, HSO4 −, NO2 −, and NO3 −. The ability of the H2L for rapid colorimetric sensing of CN− and AcOˉ was studied using UV–Vis, and 1H NMR titration methods. The detection limits of H2L toward CN− and AcO− in the semi-aqueous medium were found to be 2.12 and 2.63 μM, respectively, which are lower than the LOD of some existing azomethine probes. Effectively, H2L was used to qualitatively and quantitatively detect cyanide ions in the human-poisoned blood and some of the agro-products containing cyanogenic samples without relying on expensive instruments.

Dimension Tuning of All-Inorganic Ag-Based Metal Halides by Solvent Engineering.

Dimension growth of metal halides is important for its properties and applications. However, such dimension control of the metal halides is rarely reported in the literature and the growth mechanism is not clear yet. A minute difference of solvent properties can tremendously alter the process of nucleation and growth of crystals. Herein, an intriguing phenomenon of dimension tuning for Ag-based metal halides is reported. The 1D Cs2 AgCl3 crystals can be obtained in pure DMF while the 2D CsAgCl2 crystals are obtained in pure DMSO. Both exhibit bright yellow emission, which are derived from self-trapping excitons (STEs). The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of Cs2 AgCl3 (1D) and CsAgCl2 (2D) are 28.46 % and 20.61 %, respectively. In order to understand the mechanism of the dimension change, additional solvents (N,N-dimethylacetamide, DMAC, 1,3-Dimethyl-Tetrahydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one, DMPU) are also selected to process the precursor for crystal growth. By comparing the functional group, dielectric constant, and donor number among the four solvents, we find the donor number plays the predominant role in nucleation process for Cs2 AgCl3 and CsAgCl2 . This research reveals the relationship between coordination ability of the solvent and the dimension of metal halides.

Dibromo- and Dichlorotriphenylphosphino N-Acyclic Carbene Complexes of Platinum(II)—Synthesis and Cytotoxicity

Some new dichloro- and dibromotriphenylphosphino isonitrile and N-acyclic (NAC) carbene complexes of platinum(II) were synthesized, starting from suitable dinuclear precursors. The reaction of cyclohexylisonitrile with trans-[Pt(μ-X)X(PPh3)]2, followed by the addition of N,N-diethylamine afforded the corresponding N-acyclic carbene (NAC)derivatives cis-[PtX2(PPh3)(NAC)] in 61–64% isolated yield. The cis geometry was attributed based on the comparison with known structures. The stability of the complexes in pure DMSO, DMSO/H2O, and DMSO/NaClaq mixtures was evaluated. While pure DMSO, as well as DMSO/H2O, did not affect the nature of either dichloro- or dibromo-compounds, dibromo derivatives were not stable in the presence of chloride ions. Since a high concentration of chloride ions is essential to perform in vitro cell assays, only dichlorocomplexes were tested as cytotoxic agents against HepG2 and human tumor cells. Among the tested complexes, NAC derivatives showed a moderate effect on MSTO-211H.

A Novel Naphthylidene-diimine Chemosensor for Selective Colorimetric and Fluorometric Detection of Al3+ and CN- Ions.

A naphthylidene-diimine L2 was newly designed, and its structure was identified by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods. The effect of temperature, acid-base and light on enol-keto tautomerism in this Schiff base was evaluated by colorimetry, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Under irradiation 365 nm, L2 emitted yellow, orange and strong green emission in pure, basic and aqueous DMSO media (v/v, 1/1), respectively. Its ionochromic behavior against various cations (Fe3+, Al3+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, Ba2+ and Ag+) and anions (F-, Cl-, CH3COO-, SO32-, S2O32-, HSO4-, H2PO4-, NO3-, CN-, and OH-) was investigated in aqueous DMSO media (v/v, 1/1) by UV-Vis and fluorescence experiments. Dark yellow color of L2 changed to colorless for Fe3+, Cr3+ and HSO4- ions, and turned to light yellow for Al3+ and Cu2+ ions, and to orange for CN- and OH- ions. According to UV-Vis data, the chemosensor displayed selective recognition towards Fe3+, Al3+, Cu2+, HSO4-, CN- and OH- with a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio. At the excitation wavelength of 365 nm, L2 gave strong yellowish white emission (λem = 445 and 539 nm) in the presence of Al3+, and the intensity increased about 12.5 times. On the other hand, the chemosensor displayed one emission band at 452 nm and 450 nm in the presence of CN- and OH- with 1.9 fold and 2.3 fold fluorescence enhancement, respectively.

Striking stability of a mixed-valence thallium(III)-thallium(I) complex in some solvents

At the dissolution of solid anhydrous thallium(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate, Tl(CF3SO3)3, or thallium(III) trifluoroacetate, Tl(CF3COO)3, in dimethylsulfoxide (dmso) or N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylurea (tmu), intensely red-colored complexes are formed. This red thallium complex is stable for years in dmso, while it is reduced fairly rapidly to thallium(I) in tmu with a half-life time of an hour. At the dissolution of Tl(CF3SO3)3 in N,N-dimethylpropyleneurea (dmpu) an immediate reduction to thallium(I) takes place. A stable colorless aqueous thallium(III) solution is obtained at the dissolution in acidic water. Stable dmso solutions and solid dmso solvates of thallium(III) perchlorate, nitrate and trifluormethanesulfonate can be prepared by adding dmso to concentrated acidic aqueous thallium(III) solutions. These experimental observations conclude that the pure solids Tl(CF3SO3)3 and Tl(CF3COO)3 play an essential role in the formation of the red-colored thallium complexes. 205Tl NMR data show that the red thallium complex contains equal amounts of thallium(III) and thallium(I). The structure of the red thallium complex in dmso, as determined by EXAFS, has Tl–O bond distances of 2.216(3) and 2.80(2) Å, which are in very close agreement with the bond distances obtained in the pure dmso solvates of the thallium(III) and thallium(I) ions, respectively, and a Tl···Tl distance of 3.49(1) Å bridged by oxygen atoms. From the EXAFS data it is impossible to distinguish if dmso molecules and/or trifluoromethanesulfonate ions act as bridges. DFT calculations could eliminate some structures due to the irrelevant structural parameters or the energetics of the proposed reactions.

A Novel Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorescent Probe for Detection of β-Amyloid Based on Pyridinyltriphenylamine and Quinoline-Malononitrile.

β-amyloid is an important pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease. Its abnormal production and aggregation in the patient's brain is an important basis for the early diagnosis and confirmation of Alzheimer's disease. In this study, a novel aggregation-induced emission fluorescent probe, PTPA-QM, was designed and synthesized based on pyridinyltriphenylamine and quinoline-malononitrile. These molecules exhibit a donor-donor-π-acceptor structure with a distorted intramolecular charge transfer feature. PTPA-QM displayed the advantages of good selectivity toward viscosity. The fluorescence intensity of PTPA-QM in 99% glycerol solution was 22-fold higher than that in pure DMSO. PTPA-QM has been confirmed to have excellent membrane permeability and low toxicity. More importantly, PTPA-QM exhibits a high affinity towards β-amyloid in brain sections of 5XFAD mice and classical inflammatory cognitive impairment mice. In conclusion, our work provides a promising tool for the detection of β-amyloid.

In situ electrostatic assembly of porphyrin as enhanced PEC photosensitizer for bioassay of single HCT-116 cells via competitive reaction

Nowadays, synthesis of novel organic photosensitizer is imperative but challenging for photoelectrochemical (PEC) assay in analytical and biomedical fields. In this work, the PEC responses enhanced about 4.3 folds after in situ electrostatic assembly of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ([BIm][BF4]) on meso-tetra (4-carboxyphenyl) porphine (TP), which was first covalently linked with NH2 modified indium tin oxide electrode ([BIm]+-–TP-NH2-ITO). Moreover, the [BIm]+-–TP-NH2-ITO showed a much larger photocurrent in a water/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) binary solvent with a water fraction (fw) of 90%, which displayed 6.7-fold increase over that in pure DMSO, coupled by discussing the PEC enhanced mechanism in detail. Then, the PEC signals were sharply quenched via a competitive reaction between magnetic bead linked dsDNA (i.e., initial hybridization of aptamer DNA with linking DNA) and HCT-116 cells (closely associated with CRC), where the liberated L-DNA stripped the [BIm]+ from [BIm]+-–TP-NH2-ITO. The PEC detection strategy exhibited a wider linear range (30 ∼ 3 × 105 cells mL–1) and a lower limit of detection (6 cells mL–1), achieving single-cell bioanalysis even in diluted human serum sample. The in situ assembly strategy offers a valuable biosensing platform to amplify the PEC signals with advanced organic photosensitizer for early diagnosis of tumors.

Visualization of latent fingerprints using an AIE-active unsymmetrical azine: 2-Naphthol-pyrrole acrylate conjugate and its fluorescent sensing of Cu2+ and S2− ions, smartphone and logic gate applications

A novel, AIE-active unsymmetrical azine-based probe LH2 was designed and developed by simple condensation of ethyl-α-cyano-5-formyl-2-pyrroleacrylate and 1-(hydrazonomethyl)naphthalene-2-ol. The synthesized probe LH2 was characterized by NMR and mass spectrometric methods. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior of azine derivative, LH2 was examined in a DMSO-H2O mixture, where the compound displayed a weak emission in pure organic solvent DMSO, and the emission was found to be enhanced at 608 nm on increasing the water fraction owing to the occurrence of restriction of intramolecular rotation (RIR). The aggregation feature of LH2 was supported by DLS and FE-SEM studies. Further, the practical application of aggregates was established by imaging latent fingerprints (LFPs) over a TLC glass slide and other platofrms. In addition, the probe LH2 could selectively detect Cu2+ ions colorimetrically and fluorometrically in DMSO: H2O mixture over the other metal ions. More significantly, the naked eye-detectable color change of LH2 has been fruitfully integrated with an RGB color value app to make it suitable for easy on-site and real-time detection of Cu2+ ions. The LH2-Cu2+ ensemble displayed high selectivity towards S2− ion over other anions via displacement approach and such reversible On-Off-On emission characteristics were utilized for the construction of the IMPLICATION logic gate.

2D-IR Spectroscopy of Nitrosyl Stretch of Sodium Nitroprusside Reveals the Elusive Two Anomalous Regions in the DMSO–Water Mixture

DMSO-water mixtures provide an intriguing hydrogen-bonding environment which has been a subject of various theoretical and experimental investigations. The structural dynamics of aqueous DMSO solutions has been investigated, using nitrosyl stretch of sodium nitroprusside (SNP, Na2[Fe(CN)5NO]) as a local vibrational probe, with the help of infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy, vibrational pump-probe spectroscopy, and two-dimensional IR spectroscopy (2D-IR). Fourier transform infrared spectra of the nitrosyl stretch of SNP reveals that both the peak position and spectral broadening are very sensitive to the composition of the DMSO-water mixture and the subsequent structural changes occurring due to the addition of DMSO to water. The vibrational lifetime of the nitrosyl stretch displays two different linear variation regimes as a function of mole fraction of DMSO which has been assigned presumably to two different predominant structures at these compositions. However, the rotational depolarization measurements show that the reorientational times follow a bell-shaped profile, imitating the changes in the composition-dependent physical properties (viscosity) of DMSO-water solvent mixtures. To get a holistic picture of the system, 2D-IR spectroscopy of the NO stretch of SNP has been employed to study time scales of hydrogen-bond reorganization dynamics existing at different compositions. The analysis of frequency-frequency correlation function (FFCF) decay times reveal that the dynamics gets slower in intermediate DMSO concentrations than that of pure DMSO or pure water. A careful analysis reveals two anomalous regions of hydrogen-bond dynamics: XDMSO ∼0.2 and 0.4, which indicates that different hydrogen-bonded structures exist in these regions that can be effectively probed by SNP which has remained mostly elusive to previous vibrational probe-based investigations.

A cellular NO sensor based on aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence and photoelectron transfer of a novel ruthenium(II) complex

Here, we present a dual amplification strategy of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) based on aggregation-induced and photoelectron transfer (PET) inhibition using a designed ruthenium-based complex for the highly sensitive detection of nitric oxide (NO). A novel ruthenium(II) complex ([Ru(phen)2(DA-phen)]2+, DA-phen: 5,6-diamino-1,10-phenanthroline) was synthesized that uses the O-diaminophenyl group for specific recognition of NO and the ruthenium metal center with 1,10-phenanthroline as the luminophore. In the first step, the 1,10-phenanthroline groups function as the aggregation part. Increasing the volume fraction of a poor solution (H2O: fw, v%) in the DMSO mixture system from 0% to 80% yielded an increase in the fluorescence (FL) and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensities by 3- and 42-fold when compared with the FL and ECL intensities in pure DMSO, respectively. The second step involves a PET process. Reacting the complex with NO in physiological pH aqueous media under aerobic conditions to afford its triazole derivative, [Ru(phen)2(TA-phen)]2+ (TA-phen: 5,6-triazole-1,10-phenanthroline), inhibited the electron transfer process, yielding a remarkable further increase in the FL and ECL efficiencies of the Ru(II) complex. The ECL intensities was 86-fold higher in the presence of NO. This dual amplification strategy enabled the sensitive detection of NO from 1.8 × 10–10 to 1.8 × 10–5 M with a detection limit of 60 pM (S/N = 3) and offered excellent specificity with no detectable interference by RNS and metal ions. Furthermore, selective NO detection in cells was achieved using this complex. Thus, this assay should be suitable for applications in environmental toxicology research and early clinical diagnosis.

Potential Antibacterials of Merang Padi Extract (Oryza sativa) on the Growth of Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria

Padi straw (Oryza sativa) is one type of stem produced from padi tree trunks. Antibacterial activity testing was carried out by agar diffusion method using paper disc as a backup by observing the formation of a clear zone indicating the presence of antibacterial activity. Variations in the concentration of the padi straw extract test solution were made with a %w/v ratio between 100% pure padi straw extract and DMSO adjusted at various test concentrations, namely, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The results showed that the n-hexane fraction of padi straw did not have antibacterial activity because there was no inhibition zone or kill zone indicated by the fraction at both low and high concentrations. While the ethanol extract showed antibacterial activity at a concentration of 15%, the ethyl acetate fraction and the n-butanol fraction had antibacterial activity indicated by the presence of an inhibitory zone at a concentration of 7%. The results of the t-test on the ethanol extract of the test bacteria obtained a Tcount value of 14,687 which means it is very significant or very significantly different because Tcount is greater than Ttable (5% and 1%). This shows that the oxytetracycline antibiotic is better than the potency of the ethanol extract of straw on the test bacteria.

Fluorescence Sensing of pH and p-Nitrophenol Using an AIEE Active Pyridoxal Derived Schiff Base.

An easy-to-prepare aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) active Schiff base NPY was synthesized by condensing vitamin B6 cofactor pyridoxal with 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic hydrazide, and employed for the fluorescent sensing of pH and p-nitrophenol (p-NP). The AIEE phenomenon of NPY was investigated in mixed DMSO/H2O medium. The weakly yellow-fluorescent NPY (λem = 535nm) in pure DMSO turned to a bright cyan-fluorescent NPY (λem = 490nm) upon addition of poor solvent water. The DLS and SEM analyses supported the self-aggregation of NPY that restricted the intramolecular rotation and activated the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. The AIEE luminogen (AIEEgen) NPY containing 90% of water fraction (fwater) was employed for the fluorescent sensing of pH. AIEEgen NPY displays three distinct fluorescent pH windows: non-fluorescent below pH 3.0 and above pH 10.0, cyan fluorescent between pH 3.0 to 8.0, and yellow fluorescent between pH 8.0 to 10.0. AIEEgen NPY was also applied for the detection of nitroaromatics in HEPES buffer (10% DMSO, 10 mM, pH 7.0). The addition of p-NP selectively quenched the fluorescent intensity of AIEEgen NPY with an estimated detection limit of 1.73 µM. The analytical utility of AIEEgen NPY was examined by quantifying p-NP in different real water samples.

'AIE + ESIPT' Active 2-hydroxy-naphthalene Hydrazone for the Fluorescence Turn-on Sensing of Al3.

The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behaviour of an easy-to-prepare Schiff base 2-hydroxy-naphthalene hydrazone (L) was explored in mixed DMSO/HEPES medium by selecting DMSO as a good solvent, whereas HEPES buffer (H2O, 10mM, pH 7.4) as a poor solvent. The weakly fluorescent L in pure DMSO showed a fluorescence enhancement at 532nm upon increasing the fraction of HEPES above 70% because of the self-aggregation of L and excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. The AIE luminogen (AIEgen) L was applied for the sensing of metal ions in HEPES buffer (5% DMSO, 10mM, pH 7.4). Among the fourteen different metal ions (Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Mn2+, Mg2+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Pb2+, Al3+, Cr3+), AIEgen L showed a selective fluorescence enhancement at 435nm in the presence of Al3+ without disturbing the fluorescence intensity at 532nm due to the chelation-enhanced fluorescence effect (CHEF). The detection limit of 20nM was estimated by performing the fluorescence titration of AIEgen L with Al3+. The reversibility of the Al3+ selective AIEgen L was demonstrated by adding a strong chelating agent EDTA. Finally, the practical utility of AIEgen L was validated by quantifying Al3+ in river and tap water samples.