Novel naphthalimide derived fluorescent probe based on aggregation-induced emission for turn-on detection of hydrogen sulfide

Two novel aggregation-induced emission (ALE) based fluorescent probes, TPANI-DNs and PCZNI-DNs, have been designed and synthesized for "turn-on" detection of H2S. Chromophore napthalimide fused triphenylamine (or phenylcarbazole) unit as fluorophore in combination with 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl as recognition moiety constructed probes. The design strategy of the twisted D-pi-A structure can efficiently transform the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) system into the AIE system by strengthening the restriction of intramolecular motion and preventing the intermolecular pi-pi stacking. The consequences showed that both TPANI-DNs and PCZNI-DNs displayed large stokes shift (135 nm and 120 nm, respectively), high selective and sensitive detection. The response mechanisms and fluorescent properties were further investigated through the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Importantly, since the strong AIE properties, a H2S test board has been prepared and used to detect H2S onsite easily and sensitively, displaying potential practical applications. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.