Porous organic polymer nanotubes as luminescent probe for highly selective and sensitive detection of Fe3+

The syntheses of fluorescein-based conjugated microporous polymers by direct arylation polymerization and fluorescence sensing Fe3+ in aqueous solutions

Determination of ferri ions in environment and human bodies is very important for environmental protection and disease diagnosis. Recently, conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) used for fluorescence sensing metal ions have attracted much attention, but this technique is done in organic solvents. In this study, the two new fluorescein-based CMPs named FLEDOT and FLBTh were synthesized by "greener method", direct arylation polymerization, with tetraiodofluorescein sodium salt (TIFS) and 3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene or 2,2'-bithiophene. Pleasely, the prepared fluorescein-based CMPs can fluorescently sense for Fe3+ in water with high sensitivity and selectivity. The quenching constants (KSV) of FLEDOT and FLBTh are 1.51 × 104 and 1.09 × 104 L mol-1, and the limits of detection (LODs) as low as 1.99 × 10-10 and 2.75 × 10-10 mol L-1, which are comparable to the sensitivity found in organic solvents' dispersions such as N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)' dispersions. UV-Vis absorption spectra show that the fluorescence quenching mechanisms of Fe3+ are absorption competition quenching process and energy transfer process.

Optical Imaging Opportunities to Inspect the Nature of Cytosolic Iron Pools

The chemical nature of intracellular labile iron pools (LIPs) is described. By virtue of the kinetic lability of these pools, it is suggested that the isolation of such species by chromatography methods will not be possible, but rather mass spectrometric techniques should be adopted. Iron-sensitive fluorescent probes, which have been developed for the detection and quantification of LIP, are described, including those specifically designed to monitor cytosolic, mitochondrial, and lysosomal LIPs. The potential of near-infrared (NIR) probes for in vivo monitoring of LIP is discussed.

Biomass-Derived Carbon Dots as Nanoprobes for Smartphone-Paper-Based Assay of Iron and Bioimaging Application

A facile one-step carbonization approach is reported herein for the sustainable hydrothermal synthesis of fluorescent blue nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) using banana petioles obtained as biomass waste. These NCQDs were used to design a "turn-off" fluorescent probe, which exhibited excellent sensing capability toward the selective detection of micronutrient, Fe3+ ion, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.21 nM. The turn-off process involves the formation of a nonradiative charge transfer complex via a photoinduced electron transfer process. The sensor showed a linear range from 5 to 200 nM and was used for the estimation of Fe3+ ions in real plant samples. Further, a paper-based assay was developed for the quantitative estimation of Fe3+ with LOD values of 0.47 nM for solution-based assay and 0.94 nM for paper-based assay using a smartphone-based readout for potential on-field applications in precision agriculture. Bioimaging studies on banana leaf cells using NCQDs revealed the selective staining of stomata openings on leaf lamella. Therefore, this work provides a way for the valorization of biomass waste into functional nanomaterials without using any extra chemicals.

Construction of an ultra-small hydrazone-linked covalent organic polymer for selective fluorescent detection of ferric ion in aqueous solution

A novel ultra-small hydrazone-linked covalent organic polymer (UHCOP) was synthesized based on the Schiff-base reaction between 2,4,6-trihydroxy-1,3,5-benzenetricarbaldehyde and 1,4-benzenedicarbohydrazide at room temperature and utilized as a sensitive fluorescent sensor for rapid (<2 min) and selective detection of Fe³⁺ in aqueous solution. The prepared UHCOP displayed ultra-small size with the diameter of 7.98 ± 0.97 nm and gave a stable fluorescent emission at 510 nm. UHCOP exhibited good sensitivity and highly selectivity towards Fe³⁺. The coordination interaction between UHCOP and Fe³⁺ resulted in the obviously aggregation-caused quenching response of UHCOP. The linear range was from 5.0 μM to 1.4 mM (R² = 0.999) with the detection limit of 2.5 μM. Finally, UHCOP has been successfully applied in the detection of Fe³⁺ in real water samples, proving the fabricated UHCOP is promising as a sensitive fluorescent sensor for selective detection of Fe³⁺ in aqueous solution.

Integrating a Luminescent Porous Aromatic Framework into Indicator Papers for Facile, Rapid, and Selective Detection of Nitro Compounds

Porous aromatic framework materials with high stability, sensitivity, and selectivity have great potential to provide new sensors for optoelectronic/fluorescent probe devices. In this work, a luminescent porous aromatic framework material (LNU-23) was synthesized via the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of tetrabromopyrene and 1,2-bisphenyldiborate pinacol ester. The resulting PAF solid exhibited strong fluorescence emission with a quantum yield of 18.31%, showing excellent light and heat stability. Because the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of LNU-23 was higher than that of the nitro compounds, there was an energy transfer from the excited LNU-23 to the analyte, leading to the selective fluorescence quenching with a limit of detection (LOD) ≈ 1.47 × 10⁻⁵ M. After integrating the luminescent PAF powder on the paper by a simple dipping method, the indicator papers revealed a fast fluorescence response to gaseous nitrobenzene within 10 s, which shows great potential in outdoor fluorescence detection of nitro compounds.

Fluorescence "Turn-off" Sensing of Iron (III) Ions Utilizing Pyrazoline Based Sensor: Experimental and Computational Study

A simple pyrazoline-based ''turn off'' fluorescent sensor 5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-(5-methylfuran-2-yl)-1-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (PFM) was synthesized and well characterized by different techniques such as FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and mass spectrometry. The synthesized sensor PFM was utilized for the detection of Fe³⁺ ions. Fluorescence emission selectively quenched by Fe³⁺ ions compared to other metal ions (Mn²⁺, Al³⁺, Fe²⁺, Hg²⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Zn²⁺) via paramagnetic fluorescence quenching and showed good anti-interference ability over the existence of other tested metals. Under optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity of sensor quenched by Fe³⁺ in the range of 0 to 3 μM with detection limit of 0.12 μM. Binding of Fe³⁺ ions to PFM solution were studied by fluorescent titration, revealed formation of 1:1 PFM-Fe metal complex and binding constant of complex was found to be of 1.3 × 10⁵ M^-1. Further, the fluorescent sensor has been potentially used for the detection of Fe³⁺ in environmental samples (river water, tap water, and sewage waste water) with satisfactory recovery values of 99-101%.

Porous organic polymers as a platform for sensing applications

Sensing analysis is significantly important for human health and environmental safety, and has gained increasing concern. As a promising material, porous organic polymers (POPs) have drawn widespread attention due to the availability of plentiful building blocks and their tunable structures, porosity and functions. Moreover, the permanent porous nature could provide a micro-environment to interact with guest molecules, rendering POPs attractive for application in the sensing field. In this review, we give a comprehensive overview of POPs as a platform for sensing applications. POP-based sensors are mainly divided into five categories, including fluorescence turn-on sensors, fluorescence turn-off sensors, ratiometric fluorescent sensors, colorimetric sensors and chemiresistive sensors, and their various sensing applications in detecting explosives, metal ions, anions, small molecules, biological molecules, pH changes, enantiomers, latent fingerprints and thermosensation are summarized. The different structure-based POPs and their corresponding synthetic strategies as well as the related sensing mechanisms mainly including energy transfer, donor-acceptor electron transfer, absorption competition quenching and inner filter effect are also involved in the discussion. Finally, the future outlook and perspective are addressed briefly.

Conjugated microporous organic polymer as fluorescent chemosensor for detection of Fe3+ and Fe2+ ions with high selectivity and sensitivity

A conjugated microporous organic polymer (TPA-Bp) comprised of triphenylamine (TPA) and 2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-diformaldehyde (Bp) was prepared via the Schiff-base reaction under ambient conditions. TPA-Bp is an amorphous and microporous spherical nanoparticle with very high stability. TPA-Bp suspension in DMF displayed strong fluorescence emission and selective fluorescence quenching response towards Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions. The fluorescence intensity of TPA-Bp at 331 nm presents linear relationship with the concentrations of both Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ with low detection limits of 1.02 × 10^-5 M for Fe³⁺ and 5.37 × 10^-6 M for Fe²⁺. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirm the selective coordination of N atoms of pyridine unit with Fe ions. The fluorescence quenching of TPA-Bp upon the addition of Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ ions can be attributed to the absorption competition quenching (ACQ) mechanism and the energy transfer between TPA-Bp and Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ ions. This work demonstrates that the conjugated microporous polymers are promising candidates as luminescent sensor for detection of the special analytes in practical applications.

Preparation of a DNA-Tb-MOF conjugate as a time-resolved probe for the detection of SO2 derivatives through an off-on effect

Herein we synthesize a DNA-sensitized Tb-MOF conjugate (DNA-Tb-MOF) as a time-resolved luminescent probe to sensitively and selectively assay SO₂ and their derivatives (i.e., HSO₃^-) through a photoluminescence off-on effect. The charge and energy transfer mechanism enables the demonstration of the effect of the photoluminescence turn-on which results from the reaction between the amino group of the DNA-Tb-MOF conjugate and SO₂/HSO₃^-. The results demonstrate that the DNA-Tb-MOF conjugate probe can sense SO₂ and their derivatives (i.e., HSO₃^-) with a detection limit of 0.02 ppm. Moreover, the photoluminescence off-on effect can be observed even by the naked eye.

Regioselective Functionalization of Stable BN-Modified Luminescent Tetraphenes for High-Resolution Fingerprint Imaging

A series of novel BN tetraphene derivatives have been prepared successfully for the first time via a post-functionalization strategy. The optical and electronic properties of these derivatives could be tuned systematically by the incorporation of different substituents on the main skeleton. The functionalized BN-containing luminogens have been explored for the detection of latent fingerprints (LFPs) on different substrates, including glass, aluminum foil, plastic, and ironware. This strategy provides great versatility in LFP imaging and good potential in elucidating the chemical information within LFPs, making the strategy valuable in forensic investigations.

Covalent Organic Polymers for Rapid Fluorescence Imaging of Latent Fingerprints

Rapid, simple and highly sensitive identification of latent fingerprints (LFPs) is an important issue related to national security and recognition of potential crimes. Here, we synthesize a series of covalent organic polymers (COPs) with colorful fluorescence (from blue to green, pale yellow, bright yellow, and red) and further investigate their performance for fluorescence imaging of LFPs. Results indicate that the COP materials can be used as fluorescence probes to rapidly visualize the precision substructure of LFPs within 5 s by simply spraying method, and tunable fluorescent color makes the COP probes have a high contrast and low interference for fluorescence imaging of LFPs on different substrates (including glass slides, paper, aluminum foil, plastic, ironware) in different backgrounds. We also further reveal the mechanism of COP probes for fluorescence imaging of LFPs. Importantly, the COP probes show high stability and could successfully achieve the fluorescence imaging for LFPs after aged for 45 days or washed by water. In short, this is the first report on the porous polymers for fluorescence imaging of LFPs and expected that it can be also applied to the fluorescence imaging of other fields.

A Novel Zr-MOF as Fluorescence Turn-On Probe for Real-Time Detecting H2 S Gas and Fingerprint Identification

The development of fluorescence turn-on probes for selectively sensing toxic gases and visualization identification of fingerprints is significantly important for society security and human health. Here, Zr is used as the metal center and 1,3,6,8-tetra (4-carboxylphenyl) pyrene (TBAPy) and tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) as double linkers to synthesize a novel Zr(TBAPy)₅ (TCPP) material. Results indicate that Zr(TBAPy)₅ (TCPP) can be used as a fluorescence turn-on probe for highly selective and sensitive detection of H₂ S gas and its derivatives S^2- in aqueous solutions with an extremely low concentration (≈1 ppb) and fast response time (<10 s). Moreover, by tailoring the particle size of samples, it is found that Zr(TBAPy)₅ (TCPP) can efficiently achieve the visualization identification of fingerprints due to the fluorescence turn-on effect. All the results indicate that the Zr(TBAPy)₅ (TCPP) is a promising multifunctional fluorescence turn-on probe.

Fluorescent conjugated microporous polymer based on perylene tetraanhydride bisimide for sensing o-nitrophenol

A novel conjugated microporous polymer based on perylene tetraanhydride bisimide (DP₂A₂) has been synthesized through Sonogashira-Hagihara cross-coupling polymerization of tetrabromo-substituted perylene tetraanhydride bisimide derivative (DPBr₂ABr₂) with 1,4-diethynylbenzene, whose Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area is about 378 m² g^-1. The fluorescence quenching behaviors of the DP₂A₂ were investigated. It is found that the DP₂A₂ shows high sensitivity and selectivity to tracing o-nitrophenol (o-NP) in THF with Ks_V constant of 2.00 × 10⁴ L mol^-1. The detection limit (LOD) is 1.50 × 10^-9 mol L^-1. The possible sensing mechanism for the luminescent quenching of DP₂A₂ towards o-NP exciting at 365 nm was considered the donor-acceptor electron transfer mechanism, which is a combined result from both dynamic (collisional) and static quenching. Moreover, the static quenching process is dominant for DP₂A₂.