Highly specific and selective fluorescent chemosensor for sensing of Hg(II) by NH-pyrazolate-functionalized AIEgens

Luminescent organic molecules are of important realistic significance to the human health and ecological environment due to their fascinating applications. Here we report the design and synthesis of luminescent organic-molecules by introducing two or four NH-pyrazolate groups as mercury-binding moieties to aromatic cores. Interestingly, the new aromatic tetraphenylene-bridged multi-NH-pyrazoles exhibit strong fluorescence in both aggregate and solid state and constitutes highly selective proof-of-concept luminescent sensor for Hg(II) ion among various competitive transition-metal ions in both organic and mixed solutions via metal-nitrogen binding. Especially, the present sensor including two NH-pyrazolyl groups showed an extremely high sensitivity with low limit of detection of 7.26 and 3.67 nM. The proposed design strategy provides a wide scope for the construction of unique turn-on sensors with substantial potential in the sense of heavy metal pollution in enviromental water samples.