ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Design, synthesis and application of tetraphenylethene substituted chalcones as pH and Et₃N indicators

Jing Zhang, Xudong Wu, Zhiyong Xing, and Zhi Li

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physical Science and Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

E-mail: zhili@bjtu.edu.cn

Received: 6 December 2022  Accepted: 25 March 2023

Abstract:

With outstanding AIE effect, TPE-substituted chalcone derivatives were widely used in the field of mechanochromic luminescent materials, chemical sensors, biosensing, etc. However, TPE-substituted chalcones which could function as pH indicator have not yet been reported until now. In this paper, three novel TPE-substituted chalcones were designed and synthesized as pH indicator for the first time. These TPE-substituted chalcones exhibited sensitive pH-chromic properties with continuous end points (pH = 9.77, 10.98 and 11.51 respectively). These pH indicators can be employed in fabrication of pH strips with higher accuracy compared to universal pH strips. Detection of Et₃N can also be realized by these TPE-substituted chalcones with advantages in low cost, high sensitivity, easy-handle and real-time.

Keywords: TPE-substituted chalcone; pH indicator; pH strip; Et3N indicator; AIE

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-023-02799-z

Chemical Papers 77 (8) 4473–4487 (2023)